| APAGear II Archives | Volume 3, Number 2 | March, 2001 |
Name: The Grace II (Zephyrus-class Floater)
Manufacturer: Sterling Floaters, Ltd.
Type: Geological Survey Floater
Cost: 2,085,000 marks
Control System: Bridge
Height: 25 m
Width: 15 m
Length: 100 m
Mass: 167 tons
Powerplant: Gas Turbine
Sensors: Optical Cameras, Geological Sensors
Equipment: Airlift Winch, Search Lights, Earth Science
Lab
Offensive Systems: 1 x Cannon, 3 x Machine Guns
Defensive Systems: AMS, Chaff/Flare dispensers, ECM
Auxiliary Craft: 1 x Prairie Dog Work Gear, 2 x Groundhog Work
Gears, 2 x Flea microlight aircraft,
2 x Antelope jeeps
Sterling Floaters, Ltd., of Rapid City, United Mercantile Federation, has been in the floater manufacturing business for over 200 cycles. Their modular and expandable Zephyrus floater is one of their biggest sellers, next to their much smaller Aura floater. It can be used for cargo, vehicle, or passenger transport. With a little bit of work, a Zephyrus can even be used for artillery work, though there are other, far more efficient ways to mount artillery pieces.
The Grace II is a floater that scours the Badlands of Terra Nova, searching out mineral deposits and, occasionally, salvageable wreckage left over from Terra Nova's many wars -- most recently the Interpolar War that raged across the planet. Its captain and owner, Andrea Helmholz, has been with the ship for 35 cycles, since before the War of the Alliance.
Although it primarily carries out its own work -- Helmholz and her team are all trained in earth sciences, and her sensor officer, Oni Chi, is a retired professor of earth sciences at the Mekong Academy of Sciences -- the Grace II does occasionally take on work-for-hire. The most common work is salvage; the Grace II's cargo bay can take on most moderate-sized finds, and the GPS systems can mark a site for salvage that's too large for the floater to handle. Third parties sometimes hire the Grace II for mineral surveys, though this is rare, since smaller floaters are usually cheaper to hire for a simple survey.
The Grace II, built a few cycles before the War of the Alliance, is the sister ship to the Grace, a Zephyrus floater that transported passengers around the UMF in style. The Grace was destroyed during the War of the Alliance after being used as an artillery platform; its owners removed the luxury suites and dining lounge from the floater while keeping the outer hulls of those modules more or less intact. They installed a concealed Dressen D7 howitzer in the resulting shell and managed to sneak up on and destroy a CEF firebase before being obliterated by CEF aerospace support.
The Grace II was originally a cargo hauler, and it was never used as anything else during the War of the Alliance. During the recent Interpolar War, however, the Khayr ad-Din Army hired Helmholz and crew to do high-altitude patrols of the area around the Gamma Maglev connecting Khayr ad-Din with the NuCoal settlements. It never saw much in the way of direct combat, though it did have to defend itself against rovers on two occasions while salvaging some choice military hardware from MILICIA and NorGuard combat zones.
The Grace II's crew consists of the following people:
The main hull of the Zephyrus airship line is a durable aluminum and composite plastic assembly. It consists of the crew and operations gondola (which houses the crew and the bridge and which includes a galley for the crew's meals), which is attached to the blimp gasbag via a sturdy spine. The powerful turbine motor housings are mounted on the side of the gondola, and access to them is provided via internal crawlspaces as well as external walkways -- although the latter are used only in the most extreme cases or when the ship is grounded.
The underside of the main hull includes mounting points and access umbilicals for additional modules. Sterling Floaters, Ltd., supplies most of these modules when a customer commissions a Zephyrus, but many customers choose to add or develop their own modules. A common addition is a defensive module mounted at the bow of the gondola (but below the bridge) and a second at the stern.
Code Name: Zephyrus Main Hull
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 996,000 marks
Manufacturer: Sterling Floaters, Ltd.
Use: Cargo Transport (Originally)
Avg. Armor Thickness: 82 mm
Armor Material: Composites
Standard Op. Weight: 110 tons
Primary Move Mode: Flight
Secondary Move Mode: N/A
Deployment Range: 2000 km (6000 km)
Sensor Range: 2 km (20 km)
Communication Range: 10 km (100 km)
Powerplant: Gas Turbine
Threat Value: 2452
Offensive Value: 0
Defensive Value: 116
Miscellaneous Value: 7241
Size: 16
Original Default Size: 13
Indv. Lemon Dice: 3
Crew: 5
Bonus Actions: 2
Primary Move Mode: Flight
Combat Speed: 40 km/hr (2 MP)
Top Speed: 80 km/hr (3 MP)
Secondary Movement Mode: N/A
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Maneuver: -3
Sensors: +0
Communications: +0
Fire Control: -5
Light Damage: 17
Heavy Damage: 34
Overkill: 51
Name Arc Ammunition Payload None - -
Name Rating Game Effects Airlift Winch 8 Can lift Size 8 Airlift-Ready Objects Autopilot - Autopilot, Level 1 Cargo Bay - 450 cubic meters of storage Crew Accommodations - 9 crew total Fuel Efficient - Triple-Efficient Engines HEP: Desert - Protection against desert environment Lab 0 Cooking (Galley) Lighter Than Air - It's a blimp! (Self-sealing) Passenger Accom. - 6 passengers total Sickbay - One bed
Name Rating Game Effects Cannot Glide - Cannot glide Exposed Movement Sys. - "Movement" hits one step worse Fragile Chassis - "Structure" hits one step worse Large Sensor Profile 2 Subtract rating from Concealment Maximum Ceiling 8 4 km maximum altitude
Name Rating Game Effects None - -
The auxiliary vehicle module is one of the standard components that Sterling delivered with the Grace II; roughly one quarter of its Zephyrus airships are equipped with this module, while another quarter have a passenger module and the remainder have a general cargo module.
Code Name: Zephyrus Vehicle Module
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 322,000 marks
Manufacturer: Sterling Floaters, Ltd.
Use: Vehicle Storage and Service
Avg. Armor Thickness: 35 mm
Armor Material: Composites
Standard Op. Weight: 25 tons
Primary Move Mode: Towed by main hull
Secondary Move Mode: N/A
Deployment Range: 2000 km
Sensor Range: 1 km (10 km)
Communication Range: 0.5 km (5 km)
Powerplant: Auxiliary Gas Engine
Threat Value: 716
Offensive Value: 0
Defensive Value: 48
Miscellaneous Value: 2100
Size: 10
Original Default Size: 9
Indv. Lemon Dice: 3
Crew: 0
Bonus Actions: 0
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Secondary Movement Mode: N/A
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Maneuver: -3
Sensors: -3
Communications: -3
Fire Control: -5
Light Damage: 11
Heavy Damage: 22
Overkill: 33
Name Arc Ammunition Payload None - -
Name Rating Game Effects Airlift Winch 8 Can lift Size 8 airlift-ready objects HEP: Desert - Protection against desert environment Searchlight - 300 m range, swivel mount Vehicle Bay - Up to 30 tons of vehicles
Name Rating Game Effects Large Sensor Profile 2 Subtract rating from Concealment
Name Rating Game Effects None - -
The Grace II's standard mission module, the survey module is Sterling's standard geological survey package and is one of the chief reasons the company started developing the Zephyrus in the first place. It includes a decent earth sciences lab, a comprehensive package of geological remote sensors, a dedicated computing system, and a satellite uplink system that allows the Zephyrus to connect to the Hermes-72 orbital network, thus ensuring it can stay in contact with civilization no matter where it is on Terra Nova. All the extra equipment, however, makes this module somewhat vulnerable to damage -- it doesn't take much to wreck the sensor spines completely.
Code Name: Geological Survey Module
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 527,000 marks
Manufacturer: Sterling Floaters, Ltd.
Use: Geological surveys
Avg. Armor Thickness: 35 mm
Armor Material: Composites
Standard Op. Weight: 20 tons
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Secondary Move Mode: N/A
Deployment Range: 2000 km
Sensor Range: 4 km (40 km)
Communication Range: 20 km (200 km)
Powerplant: Supplied by main hull
Threat Value: 950
Offensive Value: 0
Defensive Value: 48
Miscellaneous Value: 2803
Size: 9
Original Default Size: 10
Indv. Lemon Dice: 3
Crew: 2
Bonus Actions: 1
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Secondary Movement Mode: N/A
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Maneuver: -3
Sensors: +0
Communications: +0
Fire Control: -5
Light Damage: 11
Heavy Damage: 22
Overkill: 33
Name Arc Ammunition Payload None - -
Name Rating Game Effects Geological Sensors - Sensors especially for geological survey High-Capacity Comp. - Extra-powerful computer for research HEP: Desert - Protection against desert environment Lab 1 Earth Sciences Satellite Uplink - Can communicate with Hermes-72 network
Name Rating Game Effects
Exposed Auxiliary - Hits against auxiliary systems 1 step
worse
Large Sensor Profile 2 Subtract rating from Concealment
Name Rating Game Effects None - -
The forward defense module for the Zephyrus floater consists of a turret-mounted Riley MG004 machine gun and a rugged, durable Riley R320 cannon. It also has a small but effective Riley AM225 gatling point defense cannon to keep missiles from destroying the ship and a powerful electronic warfare suite for disabling enemy communications. Although the EW suite cannot compete with most modern military systems, it is usually more than enough to keep rovers from mounting an organized attack.
Code Name: Defense Module (Forward)
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 133,000 marks
Manufacturer: Sterling Floaters, Ltd.
Use: Floater defense
Avg. Armor Thickness: 35 mm
Armor Material: Composites
Standard Op. Weight: 6 tons
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Secondary Move Mode: N/A
Deployment Range: 500 km
Sensor Range: 2 km (20 km)
Communication Range: 0.5 km (5 km)
Powerplant: Supplied by main hull
Threat Value: 267
Offensive Value: 320
Defensive Value: 48
Miscellaneous Value: 433
Size: 6
Original Default Size: 10
Indv. Lemon Dice: 3
Crew: 2
Bonus Actions: 1
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Secondary Movement Mode: N/A
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Maneuver: -3
Sensors: +0
Communications: +0
Fire Control: -5
Light Damage: 11
Heavy Damage: 22
Overkill: 33
Name Arc Ammunition Payload Riley R320 (MRF) F 40 shells Riley MG004 (HMG) T 400 shots
Name Rating Game Effects AMS 1 40-shot anti-missile system ECM 2 Offensive electronic warfare equipment HEP: Desert - Protection against desert environment Reinforced Crew Comp. - Absorbs first "Crew hit" result
Name Rating Game Effects None - -
Name Rating Game Effects None - -
The rear defense module of the Zephyrus is very much like the forward module, although it replaces the Riley cannon for a second MG004 machine gun. In addition, a chaff/flare dispenser helps protect the Zephyrus from missile attacks along with the forward module's AMS. A smoke canister delivery system can prevent enemies from targeting the Zephyrus properly, as well. Not only can the smoke launchers detonate on the ground, they can be set to detonate in the air.
Code Name: Defense Module (Rear)
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 106,000 marks
Manufacturer: Sterling Floaters, Ltd.
Use: Floater defense
Avg. Armor Thickness: 35 mm
Armor Material: Composites
Standard Op. Weight: 6 tons
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Secondary Move Mode: N/A
Deployment Range: 500 km
Sensor Range: 2 km (20 km)
Communication Range: 0.5 km (5 km)
Powerplant: Supplied by main hull
Threat Value: 213
Offensive Value: 284
Defensive Value: 48
Miscellaneous Value: 305
Size: 6
Original Default Size: 10
Indv. Lemon Dice: 3
Crew: 2
Bonus Actions: 1
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Secondary Movement Mode: N/A
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Maneuver: -3
Sensors: +0
Communications: +0
Fire Control: -5
Light Damage: 11
Heavy Damage: 22
Overkill: 33
Name Arc Ammunition Payload 2 x Riley MG004 (HMG) T 400 shots (each)
Name Rating Game Effects Chaff/Flare Launcher 1 40-shot chaff/flare system HEP: Desert - Protection against desert environment Reinforced Crew Comp. - Absorbs first "Crew hit" result Smoke Launcher - 20 charges
Name Rating Game Effects None - -
Name Rating Game Effects None - -
In a strange fit of crossover madness, I designed the Grace II for the Jovian Chronicles setting as well. You can find it on the APAWorks web site at http://www.bluething.org/V1R4/schaller.htm. Once the aircraft expansion for Gear Krieg comes out, I'll probably post a Gear Krieg version of the Grace II as well.
| APAGear II Archives | Volume 3, Number 2 | March, 2001 |
Heavy Gear is © 2001, Dream Pod 9, Inc. All rights reserved. APAGear is not affiliated with Dream Pod 9 in any way. Submitted material remains the property of the creator.