Ships of the Lunar Free State

Hackenbacker Industries TB-1 'Thunderbird'

The Thunderbird epitomizes the military strategy of the Lunar Free States. The craft blurs the line between being a really large aerospace craft or a very small capital ship. The Thunderbird is just over 130 feet long, and is shaped like a missile, down to the fins and oversized overthrust nozzles. It is incredibly fast, and packed full of ordnance. An eight person crew mans the craft: a captain, navigator, electronics warfare officer, weapons officer, engineer, and three additional crew members with mission specific jobs.

Armament: the Thunderbird utilizes rotary racks buried in the fuselage of the craft. These racks hold up to 24 guided missiles and can fire up to four at a time. The craft typically carries a mix of anti-ship, chaff, swarm, and decoy missiles in it's bays. The nose mounts a rotary magnetic cannon that is used as a Close in Weapons System (CiWS). The TB-1 can also mount larger anti-ship torpedoes on hardpoints around the fuselage and act as a 'torpedo boat' and make high speed attack runs on threatening ships.

Speed: very fast, mixes A-pods with a controlled Orion drive, aka a continuous nuclear explosion engine.

Limitations: The Thunderbird is a short range ship, and only has provisions for a few days. Crew accommodations are nearly non existent, and interior facilities are Spartan in the extreme.

Public Opinion - Thunderbird ships and their captains are flashy and cocky, the strutting heroes who protect the sovereignty of the Moon. Their ships are named and adorned with art like WWII bombers, and crews of wacky misfits are the norm (carefully selected for daring, bravery, and ability to have complementary skills. They are the fastest, and the first in, and if things go badly, they aren't coming back.

Fermat-Hackenbacker-Union Aerospace FC-406 'Huxley'

Also known as a Hux, it is among the most iconic of the Lunar Free State ships. The Hux is a workhorse craft designed as a heavy lift and cargo vehicle and was based around the ability to pick up and deploy any ground unit in the LFS arsenal. The original specification was to carry a single Osiris class crawler. The Huxley is best described a flattened barrel with stubby forward raked wings, bulgy engines, and a rollbar brace between said engines that is reminiscent of spoilers on vehicles that dont need spoilers.

Variants:

Cargo-Master - the Hux CM can move up to 10,000 tons of cargo with relative ease, packed into it's modular cargo bay. This entire bay is removable, meaning that the Hux can literally land, drop it's entire cargo bay, and fly away. This has made logistics work using the Hux a breeze.

Assault Craft - the Hux AC has a grandiose name, as it is unarmed, and only lightly armored. It can still carry up to a dozen mecha into action, either dropping them skyborne commando style, or dropping the rear ramp so that a hundred power armor troopers or a much greater number of skeletrons can be deployed. As the LFS is based around defensive war, and logistic support, their craft are not intended for landing in hot or contested zones.

Heavy Lifter - the Hux XL is used to pick up prefabricated structures like a Pre-Con tactical base, mobile hospital, habitat module, or even downed ship and move them. It has several massive winches and points to hook onto, and the ability to lift a staggering amount of mass.

Civilian Craft - The Hux G is a civilian craft used for public transit, and is the main method that citizens of the LFS travel to places on the moon not connected to the Lunar Hyperloop 'Toob'. Hux Gs are also used to fly commercial cargo and passengers to points in Near Earth Space, and to land at terrestrial spaceports. While very common for Lunar travelers, for citizens of Earth, booking a flight on a Lunar Huxley is akin to modern day Emirates airline passage. Fancy.

The Osiris

The Osiris is a venerable weapons platform formerly used by the Lunar Free State, and variants can still be found on other low gravity bodies in the solar system. The vehicle mounted a trio of light naval particle cannons in a single massively armored turret squatting on an armored shell wrapped around a fusion reactor and power amplifiers. With low gravity and no atmosphere, an Osiris could engage targets orbiting the Moon. The Osiris served well for many years, but after eight decades of service, the remaining vehicles were either scrapped or sold, and the turrets and guns were removed and built into military installations, such as Fortress Hecate.

Armament: none

Speed: Modest, Hux G is fast

Limitations: Designed as a cargo craft, not suited to any sort of combat

Public Opinion: the pride of the Moon. The Huxley is a vehicle associated not with war, but with search and rescue, lunar industry, and luxurious and safe space travel

Anderson-Hackenbacker 'Ricochet' class Light Cruiser

If the Thunderbird is the destroyer of the Lunar fleet, the Ricochet class is the cruiser. The ship is small, light, and fast, following the typical lunar design philosophy. Admitting that it has obligations to the Near Earth Space Supremacy Act, and military obligations to the Atlantic Federation, Kingdoms of Scandinavia, Nippon, and various megacorps, the LFS designed and laid out the Ricochet. It is a fairly simply light cruiser predominantly armed with lasers and four light naval particle cannons in individuals mounts, plus a large number of missile batteries. The ship differs from the Lunar norm in that it has the ability to carry out long missions, with range and supplies to go 2-3 months without resupply. While short term compared to other powers, this is much longer than the norma 36 to 72 hour durations allowed by most of their other ships.

The Ricochet is best known for its AtomicPunk retro-rocket vibe. It has a long rocket like fuselage, with oversized and braced fins. The crew of 30 works inside a cramped tube, but do so with relative pride. They favor a vintage retro inspired 'space command' type of uniform, complete with a fishbowl helmet completing the look.

Armament: 4 Light Naval Particle cannons, 36 Heavy Lasers in twin mounts, 32 Large Lasers in quad mounts, 6 Artemis Missile batteries (20 tube swarm launchers) 12 Starhawk anti-fighter missile batteries (each battery has 4 Starhawk missiles) 1 anti-ship torpedo launcher.

Speed: Fast

Limitations: not exceptionally agile, armor is light, crew accommodations are Spartan. Federation naval planners consider the Ricochet to be a glass cannon.

Public Opinion: Positive, the LFS loves the retro-atomic-punk design of the ship, and given their design very few have been seriously damaged, making them even more favored. Most citizens of the LFS will admit that their ships are not the most powerful, or the toughest, but they are really fast, and they are really good looking. A high percentage of Ricochet captains are female.

Greystone LF-7 'Werewolf'

Another Lunar craft that blurs lines. The Werewolf is a large fighter, or a small patrol ship. It has three Orion thrusters to supplement it's speed, and to counter the mass of the armor it mounts. The ship has a crew of three, and can sortie from either a carrier or from a surface base with ease. Like the Huxley, the Werewolf is a multi-role modular design and can be used in a number of roles. The basic model is a fighter interceptor torpedo boat sort of craft.

Variants:

Ground Support - the ground support Werewolf has external hardpoints for gun drones and carrying ordnance to launch at enemy forces on the ground. It is mediocre in this role, but it is the only ground support/attack craft in the Lunar arsenal.

Ground Assault - this version drops all of it's weaponry and the third crewman position for a passenger pod. This pod can hold a squad of lunar commandos and can drop them anywhere from the surface of and asteroid to a specific point on the hull of a spaceship. It has magnetic grapnels and hull cutting lasers to help with the breaching of the target.

Electronics Warfare - the 'AwareWolf' is equipped with ECM systems, advanced scanners and sensors, and has a four man crew.

Long Range Recon - the LRR or AwayWolf has a six week mission duration, and a crew of one. It is used for low profile surveillance missions, and for hiding itself as rubble or junk in space, waiting to snoop something.

Armament - standard model has six medium lasers in the nose, three on each side. It also has two rotary missile launchers for anti-aerospace and anti-mecha grade missiles. It can also carry a pair of anti-ship torpedoes on external mounts.

Speed - average

Limitations - modest armor, 10 hour mission duration, crew cannot leave their seats until mission is over. Too small to be an assault ship, too big to be a fighter.

Public Opinion - positive. Not as flashy as the Thunderbird interceptors, the Werewolves are stoic and courageous pack hunters. Plus having big torpedoes slung under the body makes the ship look decidedly dangerous. Werwolf pilot/crews have the same devil may care retro-punk nose art pin-up girl attitudes as Thunderbird crews.

Fermat-Previn AE-35 Minerva class Frigate

The Minerva is a science/communications frigate built and used by the Lunar Free State. It is a unique ship that is more of a self propelled space station than a ship. The main body of the ship is a Bernal sphere with a large donut like ring around its axis of rotation. Below, or extended from the rear of the Bernal core there is a long shaft that connects to the engineering section. This houses primary power and the ion drive. The Frigate is only armed with a handful of CiWS guns and missile batteries. It is used for gathering intel, snooping on enemy communications, spoofing and hacking said communications, and operating as a CommNode in larger fleet operations.

Armament: point defense systems. Military grade CogNet node with military grade L/AISC cyberwarfare system. Surveillance drones. Communications and target designation systems.

Speed - fast

Limitations - very light armor, almost no weapons, expensive

Public Opinion - too flashy and fancy, the Minerva has swung away from the Retro-Atomic-Punk Lunar vibe, and while it is fast and fragile as most of their ships are, it doesn't look good, and the job it does is too Scandinavian and not Lunar enough. There is no swagger or bravado to be had hunched over a tech console pressing buttons and providing data streams to the ships that actually have guns, but worse electronics.

Fermat-Greystone Mondschein and Silver Shrike Aerospace Craft

The Mondschein is a 250 meter long civilian passenger craft. The craft can carry up to 1800 passengers anywhere in Near Earth Space in a matter of 2-5 hours. In true Lunar style, the Mondschein does so in a decadent fashion, with the aerospace craft having multiple lounges, bars, and even a small nightclub inside of it. Travelers are only asked to take their seats during launch from Earth, or while entering the atmosphere. Many opt to remain in the lounges to play it cool and watch the pyrotechnic displays as the massive aerospace craft decelerates to mach 6 and then lands. The attractive couple in the ad toast the captain and pilots on a landing so smooth that they didn't even spill a drop of their drinks.

The Silver Shrike is a high speed military bomber. The hypersonic aerospace craft can deliver a 900 ton payload onto a target at speeds in excess of mach 6. While the delivery of freefall weapons has become obsolete, the Silver Shrike, in Lunar words, Looks damn good. It is suspected that the Shrike was done out of a weird sense of Lunar Pride, or that there are Black Shrikes somewhere and no one knows about them.

Armament - 1200 passengers or 900 tons of ordnance

Speed - breathtaking

Limitations - Cant outrun lasers and energy weapons, no armor, no weaponry, outmoded weapon system.

Public Opinion - Don't be jealous, she's pretty, she's ours, and it makes you sick that you literally have nothing as pretty as our hypersonic chrome body space plane full of pretty space stewards and stewardesses.

Related Craft

There are a large number of Near Earth Capable hypersonic aerospace craft. There is a decent amount of traffic going from the surface of the planet, to the moon, and to the vast number of space stations and habitats circling the planet, and sitting in the LaGrange points. These craft are marked by low production runs, and designs that run more towards flashy than bricks in space.

The Zero-X - The Zero X was a large, blocky, slab-sided space plane. Built for Neo-Soviet operators, the Zero-X was rugged, simple, and easy to maintain. It was slower than the Mondshein, but carried closer to 2000 passengers, minus most of the luxury features. The craft has gained a bit of attention as the Chernobyl Brigade of DFE responders have used their Zero-X, the Stalker, to drop iron bombs and other large explosives on bug swarms and in the face of magnaspawn.

Skythruster Semi-Ballistic - The Skythruster is a semi-ballistic passenger craft used by various second and third tier world powers, those that generally lack spaceforces or the ability to field their own fleets of craft. The Skythruster cannot make true space, but can jet up to the edge of space, cruise at high speed, and come back down at hypersonic speed and land safely. Value liners often use old Skythrusters as trans-oceanic transports. Most are starting to seriously show their age.

Consulate Ship LSS Graystone

Unique Vessel

The Graystone is the main ship used by the leaders of the Lunar Free State, a sort of Air Force 1 meets a 1920s zeppelin ride. The large ship uses a twin hull design much like the Zelanzy Catamaran. The two hulls are connected by a Lunar style Roll bar, also seen on the Huxley transports, and by the engineering section. The Greystone is fairly swift as civilian vessels travel, but it does so in a level of luxury that is hard for many to comprehend. This is the governmental pleasure yacht of the Moon

Facilities

Captain's Yacht - a one of a kind ship that is paired with the Greystone. The LSS Zoe is registered as it's own ship, and technically functions as a lifeboat for the ship, but is more often than not the 'Smokey back room' for Lunar politicians. The Zoe has a month worth of supplies, and can travel to Earth on it's own.

CIC - the President and any other Lunar officials have all the security and electronics they need to carry out their duties from the safety of the Greystone. This includes secure lunar military channels, and a 'Red Line' to the Federation Supreme Council.

Creighton-Ward Suite - a 'women's suite' designed to pamper and spoil the most feminine and effeminate of needs and desires. The Creighton-Ward suite has a masseuse, manicurist, hair stylist, celebrity grade polyforge for cutting edge designer label goods, and features a five star inventory of food and wine services. While originally intended for just women, the current President of the Moon, J. Loki Weir, prefers to use it as his parlor and meeting room.

The Lounge - nothing says excess and luxury quite like having a gaming lounge on the presidential ship. The Lounge features Lunar art, gaming tables for gambling, and a one of a kind gravimetric Billiards table. Each of the balls used in the set cost as much as most denizens of Earth make in a year, and are composed of exotic materials, so that gentlemen can smoke their cigars and shoot pool regardless of the gravity or orientation of the ship. The Lounge also has a wet bar, a cigar humidor, and a cutting edge holographic entertainment system.

The Palladium Ballroom - a full size formal ballroom, with high ceilings and baroque art, the Palladium Ballroom would not look out of place in the Great Gatsby or any other Roaring Jazz era epic. It is a demonstration of how much space they could waste inside of a ship. The room has gravimetric controls and inertia dampeners, allows for all sorts of dancing.

The Davenport - a fully staffed and functional five star Tea Room and restaurant, the Davenport is the haute cuisine of the Moon. It is a retro style establishment that recalls the splendor of the very early 20th century with delicate doilies, linens, formal tea services, petit servings, and meals that are as much art as they are food.

Aerospace Carrier LSS Sentinel

Unique vessel

The LSS Sentinel is a large aerospace carrier, and is normally used as a mobile military base for the Lunar Free States. The ship is half the size of the Federation's smallest battlestar, and only accommodates a single squadron of Werewolf fighters. It is poorly armed and lightly armored. Like other Lunar craft, the Sentinel is very fast. The Sentinel is the only capital carrier in the LFS fleet, and until the Federation decides to retire a Battlestar and offers it for sale to the Free States, it is likely to remain the only one in their fleet.

The Sentinel is unique in that all of the superstructure of the ship is clustered around the engineering section and drive systems. The front and middle sections of the ship are sleek and streamlined, giving the Werewolf fighters plenty of room to do what they need to do. The hangers and bays inside the Sentinel are also large enough to accommodate several Thunderbird interceptors.

Armament - CiWS, Artemis Missile Batteries

Speed - fast

Limitations - thin armor, all weaponry is defensive in nature, Spartan conditions.

Public Opinion - the Sentinel is drop dead sexy, and should only be used to carry and launch Thunderbirds, not the doughy little Werewolf snub fighters.

LSS Imposter

Unique vessel

Originally the LSS Tranquility, she was a Potemkin Ship designed and built to look like a first gen Battlestar. The ship was considered something of an eyesore in the Lunar Fleet, and was an embarrassment to the leaders of the Lunar Free State. On records, Tranquility was the biggest and best ship in the Lunar fleet, and could carry and launch six squadrons of Werewolf fighters, and carry Thunderbird interceptors like more fighters carried missiles.

Tranquility was discovered by a Pacific Rim Coalition cruiser in a docking accident. In joint exercises near JOSH-annex 1, the Californian cruiser Schwarzenegger collided with the Tranquility, causing serious damage to the Tranquility. The damage broke open the bow section of the ship, spilling it's contents of... literally nothing. There are hostile debates over how much of this was an accident, and how much of it was from PacRim/Lunar tensions at the time.

After the incident, Tranquility returned to the Moon and was parked at the Darkside shipyard and has been powered down completely since then.

Armament - minimal, CiWS and point defense missiles

Speed - slow

Limitations - Potemkin Ship, weak armor, no weapons, can only carry 6 fighters

Public Opinion - Bury it.