Know Your Ship!

[Excerpts From The Far Orbit Project]

Imperial Navy Personnel

Volunteers. A large proportion of the Imperial Navy is made up of young people who have joined to fight against the well-publicized and heavily propagandized "chaos and piracy in the galaxy," and defend the Empire from a vaguely defined alien threat. Volunteers tend to be somewhat idealistic and Imperialist. The bulk of the officers are volunteers.

Conscripts. An equally large proportion of the Imperial Navy consists of young people pressed into service, either directly by the Empire or by their local government to meet Imperial Navy quotas. While the draftees are generally willing to serve, they largely do so because they are compelled by social and legal pressures -- avoiding service is a criminal offense, punishable by up to 20 years of hard labor. The bulk of the deckhands are draftees.

Careerists. Some Navy personnel choose to remain in the service after their initial term of service ends; others are compelled to remain -- typically deckhands -- but they remain in service, because they enjoy their duties, like to travel, have found a vocation, or simply have nowhere else to go. Senior officers and long-term deckhands are careerists.

Navy Natives. A constantly shrinking percentage of Naval personnel is made up of "Navy natives,' people who belong to families that have served in the Navy for generations. With the rise of Palpatine and the commitment of some of the Navy families to his policies, control of the Navy has largely slipped into the hands of come-lately careerists and Imperial political agencies. Natives are neither volunteers or draftees; they move into the Navy is their youth as a way of life.

Imperial Naval Vessel Section Commands

Each section is commanded by an officer -- Chief Engineering Officer, Operations Officer, and so on -- and has a corresponding station on the main bridge.

Command Section

Command section has the overall responsibility for the ship as a whole and is the link to Line Command -- the mind of the ship. All other sections ultimately answer to the Command Section Chief, referred to in all but the most legalistic situations as the Captain. In the Imperial Navy, the Captain is an officer of at least junior commander rank. Combat vessels are commanded by at least commanders, and most capital vessels by actual captains.

Operations Section

Operations (Ops) is the largest single section and its commander has the broadest responsibility of any of the section chiefs. Ops is responsible for the overall running of the ship and smooth integration of all the other sections to that end. Several other sections report directly to Ops, and the Ops Officer is usually the ship's second-in-command. In the Imperial Navy this command goes to an officer of at least junior commander rank.

Flight and Vehicle Operations

Flight and Vehicle Operations -- commonly called FVO -- is in charge of operating and maintaining all the ship's carried craft, including shuttles, starfighters (typically TIEs), escape pods, and ground vehicles. FVO answers to Ops. On an Imperial Star Destroyer, there is the addition of a wing commander who answers directly to the captain.

Ship's Doctor

The Ship's Doctor answers to Ops. See Sick Bay below.

Quarters

Quarters section is responsible for the maintenance and housekeeping of the living sections of the ship. Enlisted personnel keep their own areas neat, but there is a small staff of deckhands and droids that clean the officer's quarters and the common areas of the ship. Quarters also runs and maintains the galley and autochefs. This is a minor administrative post and the most junior section command aboard ship. Except on the largest Imperial ships, Chief of Quarters is usually headed by a junior lieutenant who answers to Ops.

Sensors and Communications

Sensors and Communications (SenCom) is split into three main areas: the main sensor section, the primary communications section and the secondary communications section. The sensor and communications arrays are physically separated to reduce interference, but administratively tied because they are technically similar. SenCom is the eyes, ears and voice of a ship. Directly under the Chief of SenCom are two experts more directly responsible for their respective specialties: the Sensor Officer and the Communications Officer. Each subsection has its own station on the bridge. The SenCom Chief is primarily an administrative position answering to the Captain. [SenCom is also known as ComScan.]

Weapons and Security

Weapons section is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ship's weapons and shields. The gunners and shield operators are crucial to the ship's survival. The Weapons Officer is also the administrative head of a ship's security via a security chief commanding the Naval troops. Stormtroopers have their own internal administration and although they generally obey the security chief, they are more directly under the captain and CompForce Observer.

Deflectors

Deflector section is run out of a heavily armored, cramped module just off the engineering section. The deflector module is only occupied when the ship is in combat-readiness posture, and is a high-priority target in any ship-to-ship action. Most simple combat repairs can be made to the deflector module by the operators (who are generally trained in this unusual repair specialty.) Section administration takes place on the top level of the engineering module. The Deflector Chief answers to the Weapons Officer.

Engineering Operations

Engineering operates and maintains the ship's engines, supplies power, and is responsible for the hardware and technical aspects of the ship's operations. The Chief Engineering Officer has several sections under his authority and is stretched as thin as the Operations Officer. Engineering Operations is run out of main engineering.

Secondary Engineering

Secondary Engineering is responsible for power, maintenance and repair for the ship, as well as emergency power if the command module is cut off from engineering. Secondary Engineering is usually referred to as "Power" to avoid confusion with Primary Engineering; the section commander is commonly referred to as the Power Chief. The Power Chief, at least a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy, answers administratively to Engineering and functionally to Ops.

Life Support

Life Support is one of the most critical sections on any ship. "Life" operates and maintains the atmosphere tanks, air scrubbers, water delivery and reclamation systems, gravity generators, and temperature controls aboard ship. The Chief of Life Support (CLS) works closely with Power and answers to Engineering.

CompForce Observation Officer

Observation units are despised almost to a being by the regular military. Observation units are members of SAGroup selected for their political loyalty. In theory, they are sent to observe the Imperial military in action so they might learn how the Imperial war machine works. In practice, they are spies who insure that the officers and enlisted folk of the Imperial military are acting with the proper respect for the New Order.

Everyone knows they are spies (with the possible exception of CompForce assault teams, who are pretty blind to the shortcomings of the New Order), and officers and enlisted personnel alike detest having to pretend otherwise. Acting in an insulting manner to an Observation officer is a good way to have a promising career cut short, and Observation knows this very well.

When their stint with Observation is up, most volunteers forego joining the military but opt for the ISB or other COMPNOR group instead.

Wing Commander

On an Imperial Star Destroyer, a Wing Commander answers directly to the Captain.

Locations on an Imperial Warship

Water Tanks. The water tanks actually hold only enough water to last about one day. The water is almost fully reclaimed in the water reclamation station in the Life Support section.

Hangars.

TIE Flight Decks. The flight deck is the launch and landing deck for the ship's TIE fighter squadrons. It houses a short-range catapult/cushion tractor beam, TIE racks, repair bays, and flight control center. There are two TIE hangar bays in the main hangar of an Imperial Star Destroyer, each holding half a wing of TIE fighters. There are two Docking Bays on a Nebulon-B frigate (in addition to the TIE flight decks). Larger ships would probably have more of them:

Docking Bay One (Nebulon-B). This docking bay is used to land small freighters and shuttles on board for unloading into the command module. The bay is equipped with a launch/land tractor beam, allowing pilots to avoid a tricky hover-up and land maneuver. Some of the ship's shuttlecraft, including the captain's shuttle, are stored in a forward section of the bay. The bay can be a tight fit, and wide craft are docked using the docking tubes.

Docking Bay Two (Nebulon-B). This docking bay is very similar to Docking Bay One. It is used to unload supplies to the propulsion module and as a repair bay.

Docking Tubes. The docking tubes are used to provide access to docking shuttles and freighters too large to fit into the docking bay.

Crew Quarters. The full crew is squeezed into a series of tight, cramped, uncomfortable compartments. The triple bunks can just fit an average human. The quarters have limited entertainment facilities and basic common refreshers.

Crew Galley. The crew galley is where the enlisted crew is intended to eat. This area is too small to feed the entire crew simultaneously and the crew usually eats in shifts. The galley is run by a small staff of hands with the aid of several cook droids and low-capacity serving droids.

Storage. There are storage compartments all over the ship. Main storage compartments contain a wide variety of goods, from power packs to ready-to-eat meals, but no weapons, parts or specialized tools.

Troop Deck. This is a practice facility, firing range, and briefing room for the ship's troopers. Small arms lockers can be found here, but the weapons are stored in the armory when not scheduled for use.

Troopers' Quarters. The Naval troopers and stormtroopers are quartered between the main crew quarters and officers and command sections. This is intended to slow the progress of a mutiny. If a large fraction of the officers and the bridge is kept out of the hands of mutineers, the ship should be recoverable. Of course, this has the parallel benefit of forcing boarders to go through not only the crew but also the troops decks on their way to the bridge.

Primary Communications. Primary communications (PrimeComm or P-Com) houses the long-range subspace transceiver, with a range of over 100 light years. Communications arrays allow contact between local traffic and long-range receivers. PrimeComm has a secure transmission room for critical and sensitive communications.

Short-range Communications. Short range communications (ShortComm or S-Com) processes local, light-speed transmissions, usually among ships of the same line and local system assets. ShortComm also handles intercom traffic and maintenance. ShortComm uses its own antenna, scrambles its own comm traffic, and is able to function without aid from PrimeComm (important in the event one of the communications sections is damaged in combat).

Boarding Bay. This is the main boarding bay for foot traffic while docked with other ships or space stations. It is also a primary embarkation facility for troop shuttles that are about to undertake a boarding action. The bay is equipped with cutting devices (3D capital-scale damage), a universal airlock, and armored repeating blaster positions to aid boardings and slow counter-boardings.

Sick Bay. The ship's main medical facility is able to handle all normal injuries and illnesses. The ship's doctor, who answers to Ops, has a small staff of human medical technicians, supplemented by a full complement of MD-series medical droids. (MD-0 through MD-5). All droids receive regular memory wipes.

MD-5 is the general practitioner of the complement, and performs all check-ups and routine minor surgery. MD-5 has all officers' medical records on file and can access the medical records of any crew hand in a matter of seconds.

Patients reporting illnesses are first seen by MD-0, the diagnostic droid, who can perform a thorough diagnostic in a matter of minutes. MD-0 also performs emergency triage during combat, and acts as MD-5's aide in regular physical examinations.

Sick bay (in a Nebulon-B) has eight single-occupant bacta tanks, able to heal almost any injury within hours. Bacta tanks are not emergency treatments. Standard procedure requires critically injured patients to be stabilized before bacta treatment is attempted. The bacta unit is managed by MD-3, who also operates the pharmacy.

The surgery unit is equipped to handle a full range of procedures, from amputations and cybernetic replacement to microsurgery. This facility is overseen by MD-4, the ship's surgical droid, with the assistance of MD-2, the anesthesia/life monitor droid. A limited supply of replacement limbs and prosthetics are on hand, and more can be assembled with 24 hours notice. These replacements are primarily functional -- they do not appear organic.

The medical lab is not particularly specialized, but able to handle routine pathological investigations. The lab is run by MD-1 with occasional consultation with MD-2 and MD-3.

Brig. The security detention facility (brig) is not as impenetrable as a full security wing. It is still quite secure, with remote-activated locks and multiple security cameras. Imperial and Victory class Star Destroyers possess large detention blocks. The brig of a Nebulon-B frigate is able to retain up to 36 prisoners at a time -- 72 if the prisoners are crowded in.

Officers' Quarters. Officers' quarters are not luxurious, but they are far less crowded than crew quarters. Junior officers share quarters (two to a room). Senior officers have their own small room to themselves. Each officers' room has a small entertainment console and a limited-function autochef, able to dispense hot and cold beverages and a selection of pre-packaged hot or cold meals.

Guest Quarters. Guest quarters are functionally the same as officers' quarters.

Officer's Mess. The officers' mess is where officers can share a communal meal. Some captains require all senior officers to join him for dinner (stiff, formal and unpleasant affairs) while others find this annoying and are more informal. The junior officers eat as dictated by their watches, usually after the senior officers.

Officers' Lounge. This is a small social area used for communal entertainment, fast meals and occasional sabaac games. The lounge also has a fully functional autochef.

Main Bridge. The bridge is the command station and the locus of information and order relaying. Each of the bridge stations can override its section controls, with their section head's rank cylinder. The Captain has the ability to override all ship functions from the bridge by using the Captain's rank cylinder. This is intended to limit the effectiveness of capturing a ship and reduce the odds of a successful mutiny.

Bridge Stations

Operations Station. At this station, the Operations Officer can patch into nearly any ship controls, issue lockout commands and communicate with any section control station. While it is possible to access ship's controls from here, only one system can be accessed at a time and it is generally more efficient to patch in at a dedicated station or the main section controls.

Sensors Station. The sensors station has a direct link to sensor reports as they feed into the sensor computer, relays sensor orders, and directs and monitors scanning modes. Only one scanning mode can be compiled at a time.

Communications Station. The communications station can patch directly into the communications arrays. The comm operator is responsible for internal communications and external short- and long-range communications. Routine transmissions can be routed from the bridge, but secure transmissions are made from the primary comm section.

Gunnery Station. The gunnery station is primarily a command relay point. (Orders for coordinated fire can be relayed in one round.)

Security Station. The security station on the bridge is a coordination center for boarding actions, boarder repelling, riot suppression, and other activities involving the ships' troops.

Deflector Station. The deflector station relays shield switching orders from the bridge.

Engineering Operations Station. This is a monitoring station for situation reports. Almost all actual controls for engineering are in the engineering section.

Helm Station. The helm controls the ship's primary and lateral thruster in realspace. This control can be overridden in engineering. Helm also engages the hyperspace motivators, on the astrogator's release.

Astrogation Station. This station is where the ship's astrogator calculates hyperspace jumps, with the aid of the ship's navigation computer. The astrogator then relays the calculation to the helm and releases the hyperspace motivator for use.

Power Systems Station. This station is primarily a relay and monitoring station, although system-to-system power switching can be controlled from here in an emergency.

Life Support Station. Also a relay and monitoring station, with override controls. From here the station controller can shut off ships' deck gravity, air or water, and open or close any hatch. This is a damage control station, responsible for fire and life support resource control during combat.

Officers' Ready Rooms. The ready rooms are the administrative centers for officers. All of the command module section officers have ready rooms in this area.

Armory. The ships' armory is kept firmly in the physical control of the officers. Only the senior officers' rank cylinders will open the armory -- a heavily armored room with blaster pistols, blaster rifles, light repeating blasters, munitions, and all other boarding weapons safely tucked away under security lock (Very Difficult security roll to open without the appropriate rank cylinder):

BlasTech DL-18 Blaster Pistols (4D)
Stormtrooper Two Blaster Carbines (5D)
BlasTech Riot Gun Light Repeating Blaster (5D+1, Special)
Fragmentation Grenades (5D/4D/3D/2D)
Merr-Sonn Stun Grenades (6D/5D/3D Stun, Rechargeable)
Gatrellis Plasticine Thermite Gel Cubes (20D per kilogram, 2D per 100 grams)

Power Control. Power control has the routine duty of regulating power flow to all sections and making sure the power is "clean" (uncontaminated by frequency irregularities). In combat, power control switches energy flow (according to combat priority) and handles backup and emergency power in the event the energy lines from the propulsion module are cut or extra power is required.

Emergency Batteries. The emergency batteries provide additional power under combat conditions and emergency power to the command module or subsections should it be cut off from main power.

Life Support. This is the control center for the ship's air, water and gravity. Life support has the duty of making sure that air and water flows through their respective channels unimpeded and that gravity is uniform on every deck (to within .05 Gs). Life Support also has hatch override control, with a higher priority than security's override. If a fire should break out, life support extinguishes it by sealing the compartment and allowing the oxygen to be consumed.

Water Reclamation Station. Very little of a ship's projected consumable and water is actually kept on board. Every ship must recycle air and water thousands of times, using water filtration and air-scrubbing units. The recycling station has a 99.5% efficiency rating, purifying hundreds of kilograms of air and water every day.

Sensors. The sensors are the eyes and ears of any ship. This section houses the sensor computer, technicians and operators. The computer correlates, reports and records all sensor data. Using the information acquired, the computer can make sophisticated analysis on a wide variety of subjects.

Sensor Units. The sensor units have a full range of sensors from standard electro-photo receptors, full-spectrum transceivers, dedicated energy receptors, and lifeform indicators to more exotic crystal gravfield traps and hyperwave signal interceptors, used for specialized long-range scans. The crystal gravfield traps (CGTs) are used to detect stealthy ships and dark objects at long range, while the hyperwave signal interceptor (HSI) is able to detect a ship entering or exiting hyperspace and at what vector. Astrogation can then, possibly, calculate the ship's heading. The HSI is also useful for intercepting hypertransceiver and subspace transceiver signals, which are recorded and passed on to P-Com for decryption.

Primary Weapons. Although the ships' weapons are spread all over the ship, this is the primary weapons section, by virtue of having the most guns and being the first guns to receive targeting sensor data. These are, therefore, the lead forward-firing weapons on board. The other forward-firing weapons follow their fire. This section also houses the main weapon power processing units, targeting computers and central blaster gas tanks. All the guns operate on battery power and with their own reserve of blaster gas, and would continue to operate if this area were destroyed. However, detonating the blaster gas tanks would result in a phenomenal explosion. This section is accordingly very well-armored.

Engineering Quarters. Very similar to the crew and officer quarters. These quarters are perhaps slightly grimier and more cluttered from the lubricants, parts and tools the engineers bring back to quarters. The deflector crew is also housed in this area, for combat readiness.

Hyperspace Motivator. Imperial Navy ships are propelled through hyperspace with a military-grade motivator.

Fuel Tanks. The fuel tanks carry a number of years of fuel equal to the ship's consumables rating. This is a high-priority target in a to-the-death ship action, and the tanks and housings are constructed out of high-grade quadranium to prevent breaches.

Main Engineering. This is the control and monitoring center of the ship. All ship's primary functions can be controlled from here with the engineer's rank cylinder, although the engineer's cylinder is third in priority after the captain and operations officer.

Main Reactor. The reactor converts fuel into energy for use in the engines. For safety reasons, the reactor is housed at the very bottom of the propulsion module. If the generator does start to go critical, engineers can shut if down with a Moderate capital ship repair roll or eject it with a Difficult roll.

Bulkheads. Any main wall, external or internal, is a bulkhead. Exterior bulkheads are the hull. Interior armored bulkheads and blast doors are also hull-grade. Other interior bulkheads and hatches are lightly armored (same as hull rating, but only starfighter-scale).

Turbolifts. These high-speed lifts can transport passengers from deck to deck in as little as one round if not stopped to load new passengers. The turbolifts can be overridden by an officer's rank cylinder to force it to ignore calls. The turbolifts are not continuous and not every deck is serviced, for security reasons. Much deck-to-deck traffic is done via vertical hatches equipped with ladders.

Supplies. A ship carries basic supplies -- air, water, food and fuel -- equal to its consumables rating.

Weapons. Turbolasers and light laser cannons feed off the same power systems and blaster gas tanks, although they run off independent power cells and gas tanks for combat (to limit the impact of destroying a gun emplacement; this does not prevent weapon damage as per the rules on p. 128-129 of the main rules from occurring, just from being worse).

The tractor beams run off main power, and require no expendable fuel. They have an effectively limitless "ammunition" supply. They are used to secure a ship and reel it in for increased fire control or boarding.

Ships also have several cargo and docking tractor beams -- one in each docking bay, one in the boarding bay, and one in each TIE flight deck. These require a crew of 3 each, use the capital ship gunnery skill, fire control 2D, space range 1-2/5/--, damage 2D. They are ordinarily used to fasten a docking ship, reel in shuttles, and launch or land TIEs, and also in ship-to-ship boarding actions to secure a ship that has been brought alongside.

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