Star Lord (JumpShip class)

This article is about the JumpShip design. For the ROC novel, see Star Lord (novel).
Star Lord JS TRO3057r.png
Star Lord
Production information
Manufacturer Midway Shipyards[1]

SelaSys Incorporated[2]

Stellar Trek[2]

Universal Air[2][3] / Federated-Boeing Interstellar[4]

Use Military, Rescue
Tech Base Inner Sphere
Cost 750,000,000 C-Bills[5]
Introduced 2590[6]
Technical specifications
Mass 274,000 tons[6]
Length 660 meters
Sail Diameter 1,140 meters
Fuel 100 tons
Burn Rate 39.52
Top Thrust 0.1 g
Sail Integrity 4
KF Drive Integrity 6
LF Battery No
Armament None
Armor 79 tons standard
DropShip Capacity 6
Crew 30[7]
  • 5 Officers
  • 25 Enlisted

(Base Crew Type Requirement)[8][9]

  • 2 Pilots
  • 2 Engineers
  • 7 Secondary Engineers
  • 4 Small Craft pilots[10]

Bay Personnel: 20
Steerage Passengers: 50

Grav Decks 1 x 110 meters diameter
Escape Pods/Life Boats 6/10
Heat Sinks 130 single
Structural Integrity 1
BV (1.0) 604[7][11]

Description[edit]

The sheer expense of acquiring and maintaining a Star Lord-class JumpShip, the second largest JumpShip class constructed,[10] combined with the scarcity of spare parts, ensured a decline in numbers throughout the Inner Sphere for this class. As of the thirty-first century, the Draconis Combine long produced one and the Free Worlds League two of these increasingly rare ships annually.[12] They served almost exclusively as military vessels, with the minority belonging to large mercenary units and the largest megacorporations. The invading Clans maintained their own version of the Star Lord,[13] kept a larger proportion of vessels in service, and the class was more common in their Occupation Zone than the rest of the Inner Sphere.[7][10][14][15]

The six Docking collars on a Star Lord are equipped with grapples that guide approaching DropShips and can even reel in DropShips of up to 10,000 tons in mass. This makes the Star Lord useful for rescue operations of damaged craft, and most Successor States maintain several Star Lords solely for recovery operations. Two small craft bays may be pressurized to allow repairs as needed, and as with most other similar bays, an aerospace fighter can be carried, though ill-advised.[10]

The crew quarters on a Star Lord are notable for luxury not seen on any other starship. All 30 crew members have well-furnished single occupancy rooms with private washrooms and automated food-preparation systems, while the passenger quarters are not as luxurious but still superior to most DropShip bunks.[7]

Star Lords are known for problems with Jump Sail deployment, with a quarter of all vessels requiring double the furling time. They also have rather small fusion engines, meaning quick-charging their jump drive takes at least 48 hours.[10][12]

Armament[edit]

Star Lords are normally unarmed and while they can carry fighters in their small craft bays, they rarely do so. For defense, they are better served by relying on their DropShips and the Inner Sphere custom of not attacking JumpShips.

Cargo[edit]

The standard Star Lord has hangars for four Small Craft, or aerospace fighters if needed, but it is preferred to rely on its DropShips for protection.[7] It has been described as being able to carry 661 tons of cargo in six large cargo bays which are situated next to the DropShip docking collars. However, this cargo capacity is inaccurate under the current construction rules, which leave the Star Lord with only about 270 tons of dedicated cargo. This discrepancy may be viewed as a legacy error from earlier rulesets when JumpShip construction rules were not yet fully fleshed out, if at all.

In addition, 50 staterooms are reserved for visitors or passengers.[7]

  • Bay 1: Cargo (661 tons), 1 door
  • Bay 2: Small Craft (4), 2 doors

Variants and Apocryphal Errors[edit]

At least one Star Lord is known to possess an L-F Battery. Given to Elected Prince Haakon Magnusson by the NAIS, the Norseman carried the Prince from system to system as he attempted to escape the Clan onslaught destroying his realm.[16] Any other information on the vessel's capabilities is scarce.

Although no major variants are known, there are significant differences among the various sources describing the Star Lord owing to the inconsistent, contradictory, and often erroneous application of different rulesets at different times:

  • In DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary, the drive integrity is given as 5 and provides incomplete stats with 13,740 tons of mass unaccounted for; the six 500-ton cargo bays and bunks for 50 passengers are mentioned in the text but not in the stats.
  • The Technical Readout: 3057 does mention the six cargo bays with their 500-ton capacity, but the stats printed give only 60 tons of cargo space overall.
  • The Mercenary's Handbook 3055 gives the small craft capacity as six, not four.
  • The Technical Readout: 3057 Revised keeps the same six cargo bays in the description, but the cargo capacity for each is 100 tons and the printed stats list 661 tons.

See Also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • In German products, the unit's proper name was altered to Starlord.

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 161, "Pillar of Jade (Economics) - Direct Service (Military) Corporations - Midway Shipyards"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary, p. 15: "JumpShip and DropShip Manufacturers"
  3. ↑ Objective Raids, p. 92: "Delavan"
  4. ↑ Objectives: Federated Suns, p. 14: "Delavan"
  5. ↑ Mercenary's Handbook, p. 33: "Cost Table: Star Lord"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 MUL entry for the Star Lord (JumpShip class)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, p. 104: "Star Lord JumpShip Profile"
  8. ↑ BattleSpace rulebook, p. 63
  9. ↑ DropShips and JumpShips: Operations Manual, p. 41
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary, pp. 22–23: "Star Lord Class JumpShip"
  11. ↑ AeroTech 2 Record Sheets, p. 275
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Mercenary's Handbook: 3055, p. 23
  13. ↑ MUL entry for the Clan Star Lord (JumpShip class)
  14. ↑ Invading Clans, p. 70: "Clan Smoke Jaguar: Naval Reserve"
  15. ↑ Invading Clans, p. 122: "Clan Nova Cat: Naval Reserve"
  16. ↑ Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 40

Bibliography[edit]

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