| Jovian APAworks | Volume 1, Number 4 | March, 2001 |
Vehicle Overview
Name: IGSAS Grace II
Origin: Earth
Manufacturer: Sterling Airships, Ltd.
Type: Research Airship
Control System: Bridge
Height: 25 m
Width: 15 m
Length: 100 m
Mass: 155 tons
Powerplant: Gas Turbine
Sensors: Optical Cameras, Telescope, Rad Counter
Equipment: Airlift Winch, Search Lights, Labs
Auxiliary Craft: 2 LOATs, 2 Drake Ultralights, 2 Bulldog
Exosuits
The IGSAS (IGS Air Ship) Grace II is a lighter-than-air ship donated by Sterling Airships, Ltd., of Earth's Maritime League to the IGS out of genuine support by CEO Rayleigh Sterling for the IGS. The scientific organization had intended to purchase outright the ship, one of Sterling's Zephyrus transports, in 2185 as part of its survey of the recently arrived CEGA following the end of last Unification War. Shortly after approaching the corporation and inquiring about purchasing a second-hand airship, Rayleigh herself contacted the organization, ecstatic to be able to contribute to the IGS mission.
The Grace II's typical tour of duty once involved traveling to remote areas of Earth with a small team of anthropologists and sociologists in order to study and photograph the cultures that have developed on Earth since the Fall. Most recently, however, the Grace II was shipped to Mars in order to perform the same functions. It is currently touring the Martian Federation under the direction of Cassandra Hitomi, one of the IGS' leading photographers and rapidly developing expert on post-Kurtzenheim culture. A typical voyage lasts roughly three months, and the Grace II is considered to be a prime post for budding new IGS researchers.
The Grace II is a Zephyrus airship, one of the two major lines of airships that Sterling Airships, Ltd., manufactures. Intended as a long-haul, efficient transport, Zephyrus airships have three standard configurations, largely determined by its under-slung transport module. Sterling produces three modules: one is a large cargo module, one is a vehicle transport module, and the third is a passenger module.
Even without a transport module, the Zephyrus can carry a decent amount of cargo in its main bay, and it includes an airlift winch to raise and lower cargo when there is insufficient space available for the ship to land itself. In many of the more remote regions of Earth, the ability of an airship to remain aloft and stationary is desirable, since the recent wars and resulting economic slump have left landing strips in disrepair.
The Grace II has traveled all over the Earth in its 30-year lifetime. It spent much of its first decade traveling throughout North America, though it made the occasional excursion into Central and South America. During its second and third decades, the Grace II roamed Europe and Asia, occasionally venturing into the Indian Ocean and Southwest Pacific Ocean islands and across Australia.
Shortly after hostilities on Mars ceased following the destruction of Kurtzenheim, eccentric philanthropist Marcus Nelson of Nelson Pharmaceuticals, Martian Free Republic, approached the IGS with a generous donation to transport the Grace II, crew and all, to Mars to conduct similar work. He insisted that the ship's name and history were important enough to him and his colleagues to outweigh the much cheaper solution of building a new airship on Mars. The IGS administrators, after much debate, acceded and went along with the plan. In July, 2214, the Grace II arrived on Mars aboard the MSS Sandalphon, an Ophan-class magsail operated by the Mercurian Merchant Guild.
While the Grace II was in transit to Mars, Sterling Airships constructed the Grace III to replace it on Earth-bound missions. The sister ship currently roams Africa.
"I've been the captain of the Grace II since it first rolled out of Hangar 5 at Sterling's Maritime plant in Nova Scotia. In 30 years, I've traveled all over the world -- the Earth -- and seen a lot of amazing and even terrifying things. I've seen villages in the middle of Siberia that have been isolated from the rest of the world for over one hundred years. I've seen the flow to Niagara Falls stopped and then started up again. I've seen mass graves the size of cities. I've seen border clashes fought over nothing but a cargo pod full of year-old rations. I've seen crash sites of shuttles that tried to leave the planet -- Earth, again -- back in the early days of the Fall.
"In all that time, I never dreamed I would one day see the sun rise on Mars from the bridge of ol' Gracie.
"Madness. Complete madness. I've listened to Nelson more than once try to explain why our actual, physical presence is so important here, but I still can't understand it. Shipping the entire Grace II across the System? I can't believe there wasn't something better he could spend his money on. Hitomi -- the photographer who's in charge of our current tour -- says rich people are like that sometimes. They get an idea in their head and no amount of rational advising can make them change it, and it's sometimes best to make the most of the opportunity.
"So here I am, on Mars, with my crew and my ship. It took us six shuttle trips up from Earth, a brief ride on a Panama barge to rendezvous with the Sandalphon on its in-bound flight for Mercury, a two-month layover there, another ride with the Sandalphon up to Mars, and six more shuttle trips to get the Grace down to dirtside, but here we are, fit as a fiddle. Well, once we modified the bag's structure to deal with Mars' lower air pressure and temperatures. And adapted her for serious desert travel. Oh yeah, plus we had to re-calibrate the avionics. Twice, actually, since the first time, we used Earth data. What a mess that was. Then the damn fuel they use here started gumming up our turbines. Had to rebuild those.
"But otherwise, here we are.
"What's the most surprising thing about this planet? Aside from the gravity and the culture and the food and the music and the mere fact that I'm here and so on? The scale. You read about the Valley -- Mariner, of course -- or the Mountain -- Olympus -- and you hear about the sheer enormity of them. Biggest canyon in the Solar System. Biggest mountain. Wow! Then you get up close and you can't even tell. Olympus Mons is almost flat. Valles Marinaris is so wide, you don't even know you're in it once drop down the side.
"Hah. Then you think about that for a few minutes and your mind just reels! Talk about scale! These things are so huge, you don't even know that they're there! Makes you think, it does. Yep. Makes you think."
--Captain Andrea Helmholz, IGSAS Grace II
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 Airships 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. Sterling Airships is not authorized by CEGA to develop arms of its own, however, so these must come from a third party. Given the international nature of the Grace II's mission, the ship does not carry any defensive modules of any kind.
Vehicle Specifications
Code Name: Zephyrus Main Hull
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 939,000 credits
Manufacturer: Sterling Airships, 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
General Stats
Threat Value: 2173
Offensive Value: 0
Defensive Value: 116
Miscellaneous Value: 6403
Size: 16
Original Default Size: 13
Indv. Lemon Dice: 3
Crew: 9
Bonus Actions: 4
Movement
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
Electronics
Sensors: +0
Communications: +0
Fire Control: -5
Armor
Light Damage: 17
Heavy Damage: 34
Overkill: 51
Weapon Summary
Name Arc Ammunition Payload
None - -
Perks
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
Computer 2 CRE +0, KNO +0
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. - 375 cubic meters (about 15 people)
Searchlight - 300 m range, swivel mount
Sickbay - One bed
Flaws
Name Rating Game Effects
Large Sensor Profile 2 Subtract rating from Concealment
Defects
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.
Vehicle Specifications
Code Name: Zephyrus Vehicle Module
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 410,000 credits
Manufacturer: Sterling Airships, 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
General Stats
Threat Value: 1878
Offensive Value: 0
Defensive Value: 48
Miscellaneous Value: 5519
Size: 10
Original Default Size: 12
Indv. Lemon Dice: 3
Crew: 0
Bonus Actions: 0
Movement
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Secondary Move Mode: N/A
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Maneuver: -3
Electronics
Sensors: -3
Communications: -3
Fire Control: -5
Armor
Light Damage: 11
Heavy Damage: 22
Overkill: 33
Weapon Summary
Name Arc Ammunition Payload
None - -
Perks
Name Rating Game Effects
Airlift Winch 8 Can lift Size 8 airlift-ready objects
Cargo Bay - 1500 cubic meters (auxiliary craft bay)
HEP: Desert - Protection against desert environment
Searchlight - 300 m range, swivel mount
Flaws
Name Rating Game Effects
Cannot Glide - Airship cannot glide
Exposed Move Sys - "Movement" hits one step worse
Fragile Chassis - "Structure" hits one step worse
Maximum Ceiling 8 4 km maximum altitude
Large Sensor Profile 2 Subtract rating from Concealment
Defects
Name Rating Game Effects
None - -
The Grace II's standard mission module since entering service with the IGS, the IGS Survey Mission Module is equipped with state-of-the-art civilian cameras and other survey equipment. It includes a fully stocked photography lab for processing visual data, and includes an auxiliary lab for advanced processing and enhancement. A third work area includes a vast library of social science references in a digital database. Finally, the module includes production facilities that allow the module staff to produce bulletins and articles for Interplanetary Geographic while in the field.
The IGS developed the survey module in-house.
Vehicle Specifications
Code Name: IGS Survey Mission Module
Production Code: N/A
Production Type: Limited Production
Cost: 1,700,000 credits
Manufacturer: IGS
Use: IGS 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: 0.5 km (5 km)
Powerplant: Supplied by main hull
General Stats
Threat Value: 849
Offensive Value: 0
Defensive Value: 48
Miscellaneous Value: 2499
Size: 9
Original Default Size: 9
Indv. Lemon Dice: 1
Crew: 2
Bonus Actions: 2
Movement
Primary Move Mode: Towed
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Secondary Move Mode: N/A
Combat Speed: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
Maneuver: -3
Electronics
Sensors: +1
Communications: -5
Fire Control: -5
Armor
Light Damage: 11
Heavy Damage: 22
Overkill: 33
Weapon Summary
Name Arc Ammunition Payload
None - -
Perks
Name Rating Game Effects
HEP: Desert - Protection against desert environment
Lab 0 Social Sciences
Lab 0 Literature
Lab 0 Notice
Lab 1 Visual Arts (Photography)
Flaws
Name Rating Game Effects
Exposed Auxiliary - Hits against auxiliary systems 1 step
worse
Large Sensor Profile 2 Subtract rating from Concealment
Defects
Name Rating Game Effects
None - -
In a strange fit of crossover madness, I designed the Grace II for the Heavy Gear setting as well. You can find it on the APAGear web site at http://www.apagear.org/0302/schaller.html. Once the aircraft expansion for Gear Krieg comes out, I'll probably post a Gear Krieg version of the Grace II as well.
.| Jovian APAworks | Volume 1, Number 4 | March, 2001 |
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