Hijacked in 828 AS by Toruella Cartel during a bountiful interdiction, the Babilonia is a Civilian Carrier adapted for support, fast deployment and research purposes.
Toruella caretakers did not consider it valuable, as it did not represent a worthy vessel for their needs. Subtly baptized pedazo de basura, the Cartel sold it to an errant merchant who thought it can provide him a big profit due to the vessel’s capabilities. After some time, figuring out his mistake and considering the low demand for this type of ship in Corsica, the trader sold it to Malta Hyperspace Starfleet to a 20% of its initial cost.
The organization, willing to decipher the potential of the new property, decided to do a thorough analysis of the components inside. Stripping out the navigational and communication systems, they found a coded Black Box. After a couple of days of an unsuccessful response from the merchant and indifference from Toruella Cartel, the engineers in charge of deciphering its content revealed the origins of the ship.
Superficially, the Bustard does not excel in comparison to other vessels. The chassis and equipment are light weighted, as Bustards are intended to be constructed, and its periods of maintenance are short and easy to manage. The novelty in this particular vessel is that it has been repurposed for exploration duties, having an Astrometry room, advanced Survey and Rift systems and 5 docking modules. Metallurgical and chemical forensics in the vessel, additional to the data found, revealed that there were 5 Osprey MK II ready to be deployed, as support for defense and research purposes. Combustion residues, stress tension from strings and junctures showed that 2 of the vessels left the hangars during the fight; meanwhile the other 3 were vacuumed.
In addition to its scientific predisposition, the Bustard has been originally accommodated for long travels, sacrificing armor resistance for supply purposes. Malta Hyperspace Starfleet has decided to implement those spaces to hold vast amounts of Cardamine, so the ship can not only be used for fast deployments and research, but also to ensure a long journey for a whole Maltese crew of a couple of hundreds. Even if the Bustard does not necessarily need to bring a large crew, it can use the surplus to provide provision to other Maltese that need assistance in the multiple fronts, to those that went too far from the nearest Cardamine stopover and require the substance urgently.
Background:
Fabricated in Livadia Shipyard one year ago, the ship was meant to be a deep space exploration vessel. A complement of 53 scientists, specialized equipment for charting and supplies to endure for a year; the flagrant ship Zodiac made its maiden voyage to never return.
During a journey in deep Omicron systems, the crew’s mission was interrupted during a Nomad ambush. According to the Black Box, the Second in Command was an infected who sabotaged the propulsion systems, so when they arrived near the vicinity of the Nomads, the whole crew would be with no options. Fortunately, the captain was in an advantageous position and took down the impostor before they could not react fast enough to assess control damage. The Zodiac’s crew managed to habilitate the engines, but a small Nomad scout party reached them just before the ignition sequence. Even if it was a couple of Nomad fighters and a couple of bombers, it was enough to cripple most systems. The Zodiac escaped successfully, but it was a pyrrhic victory as only 10 scientists survived the encounter and all weapons and most navigational systems were offline.
Drifting in the midst of space, they managed to find a gravimetric anomaly nearby. Reducing power to vital systems, the tormented crew tried to pick the last opportunity to escape alive before a second wave appears. Unbeknownst to them, a Maltese scout squadron was patrolling the other side of the hole. The Outcasts almost destroyed the vessel, but they looked the overall condition of it and its crew and thought the possibilities to get credits and even slaves from the fortuitous event.
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