Everyone in the Empire knows that the main advantage most ships have in comparison with TIE Fighters is the addition of a hyperdrive.  The Hyperdrive is fundamental in adding both a strategic and tactical role to fighters to work independantly of larger support vessels.

My proposal is a small ship with a single pilot aboard.  This vessel will be rectangular, with four tractor beams on each side.  Also on each side will be a magnetic coupler that will attach to other ships, and of course a sublight engine, hyperdrive, and navigational computer.

The purpose of this vessel is as a squadron support craft, able to pick up and carry fighters damaged in combat, or just carry squadrons from system to system.  The tractor beams latch onto ships, and bring them in to be locked onto and carried through hyperspace.

A modular design for this would allow for the ships to easily be converted into pilot rescue vehicles for when a pilot is trapped in a ship that has been damaged.  The rescue of a pilot means that instead of waiting for a new pilot to be trained and put into combat, a combat experianced pilot can be returned to a command post and put back in the cockpit of a fighter.

The exact blueprints would still need to be worked up, but I believe that a ship that can carry TIE Fighters without a larger support ship and then rescue pilots would be a nice addition to our fleet.


 
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FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE

If I understood her correctly, I believe they attach to the ship much like a cargo container.  I really like the idea Linda, you should talk to Fury about it (he deals with the tech stuff).
 
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FM/ESN Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/Nazgul 2/Phoenix Wing/M-SSD Atrus/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][LSM][LoC]


"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

The LookslikeaBorgship :P

Interesting thought though.

"The purpose of this vessel is as a squadron support craft, able to pick up and carry fighters damaged in combat" <--- I could see how this vessel could have superior mechanical/repair technology implimented into its docking bays as well. Perhaps an assembly-line type of design.

As for the name, I kind of like:

Rehab
Restorator
Rectifier
Rejuvenator
Renovator


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Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
CoT/BG Cosmic/HCA-3/SL/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [OPE][OTH][OPA][EW1][CDS][IH][GS][LM][SoS][CRoM][CoH][PoC][MSM][SCP][SoA][IOC]
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Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
SL/KPR Cosmic/Lion 1-1/Lopen/VEDJ/VE [VP][WoS2][KC1][SoY][EoP][OAK]
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I like the range it would extends to TIEs especially.  By having these, we don't have to worry about fitting TIEs with hyperdrives which degrade performance.  The ships will have to have reasonably tough hulls and possibly a slam drive from a missile boat as they could be our only way home on some missions, we want them to be able to survive better than say a space tug :P  We also don't want to have to consistently worry about protecting them, they need to have a reasonably ability to either defend themselves or manage to get out of the way if attacked.

Still, great idea Linda!
 
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FM/ESN Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/Nazgul 2/Phoenix Wing/M-SSD Atrus/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][LSM][LoC]


"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

The scale I had envisioned was sort of a corvette or a large tug.  I glanced around for a few ships to sort of match the description and I think I found one:



The ship would be smaller than what the image portrays of course, with a smaller cockpit to only fit one pilot, but with either a magnetic grapple or even a hatch that lowered over the cockpit, the ship could carry a full squadron. 

And if you'll notice on the front there are two hatches?  These could allow TIE pilots to leave their damaged ships and climb inside, so that they can survive after their jumpsuits expire.  Also since the ship latches onto TIE's with magnetic grapples, once the pilot is safely aboard, the remains can be locked on and carried back.

There are also a good number of guns aboard, so defence against other ships isn't a problem.  As long as they're not facing a capital ship or a corvette, there shouldn't be a problem.



This ship here also looks pretty good.  It removes the cylindrival pods of the first design, but instead has a flight deck where the TIE's can actually land.  The ship would be larger, but I think the lower deck could also hold two whole squadrons, if they were loaded in the back.

The added space above the flight deck could serve as a briefing/debriefing ampitheatre, a medical bay, and even a small lounge if you were to squeeze it in.  For a Corvette sized ship, it's not a bad design, and the grapple arm is a nice touch for hauling in damaged ships and loading them into the rear hatch.

So both designs are atleast worth considering, in my opinion.
 
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FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE

... you lost me somewhere Dez
 
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FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE

Ok.  Crappy illistration.



To help me out anyways.

(Edit: Incase you can't see that...  Maybe this site'll help.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/FMJR/Nazgul%20Stories/shipthing.bmp)

(Nope.  I can't supersize it though.  So I dunno.)
 
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*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Shazam, it would be nice if you have it on the front view also.

and without the color, just the outline.

someone out there might have lots of time building that model.

Everyone has good ideas for this stuff but the problem is we need to stay focused on what this ship needs to look like and do. 

First off, the ship's going to need a bay to store TIE fighters.
Second, this bay must also have the room to work on damaged TIE fighters. 
Thirdly, it needs tractor beams to nab TIEs and pilots.
Fourth, it needs a crew of less than 5
Sixth, it needs to be a small ship, about the size of a corvette or tug.

In this case, a rectangular design works, but like the concept art here shows, a small hangar with an area above it means that there's room for all of this, mostly handled by droids.  The TIEs themselves are probably manufactured by droids, so having them handle repairs is easy.

If spare parts were kept on the ships to repair the TIEs, then if a pilot were to survive the utter destruction of his ship, he could actually have a new TIE built for him.  I'm still partial to this design, but I'm open to suggestions.


 
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FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE

we could, but it'd be hard to modify a starship to hold fighters.  They've done it before for Corellian Corvettes (X-Wing, Wraith Squadron), but still you're talking about trying to squeeze starfighters into an area that really wasn't designed for it.  It'd be alot better to build the technology from scratch, since then you have a ship custom made to handle the type of ship you want to carry.
 
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FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE

The other question would be, how many fighters do you want to actually be carried by these?  If we say six, then the size of the ship can be cut down even more.  Also keep in mind, the pilots, in theory, won't ever get out of their fighters while in this so that would cut down on space as well.

What kind of dimensions does that concept have Linda? 
 
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XO/ESN Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/Nazgul 2/Phoenix Wing/M-SSD Atrus/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][LSM][LoC]


"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

The idea I had was that the ship was a mobile base for a squadron of TIE fighters.  The dimensions of a TIE fighter are 6.3 meters in length.  I couldn't get a height, but considering you could stack them 2 wide and 6 deep, that's about 12.6 wide by 37.8 deep by about 6.3 tall (I'm guessing they're basically the same on all three sides). 

Add to that about .2 meters on each side for armor around the hangar, and a forward and rear entrance that doesn't have a rear, that's about 13 meters wide by 37.8 deep and about 6.7 meters tall.  But that's just the hangar. 

It'd also require engines, which for a ship that size would need an engine compartment with dimensions of about 1/2 the size of all the other parts of the ship, so we'll come back after we've added everything else. 

Now, if we were to add a cargo bay with the complete equipment to repair and maintain a full squadron, it would need to be about the same size of the hangar, so that's double the ship size right there.  An extension about the same size for the ship's crew and the pilots (assuming we do let them out of their TIE's), and that means we have three full sections of the ship.

A small cockpit for the crew, and that leaves you with a ship about 75.6 meters long, 18.9 meters tall, and 13 meters wide.  Now, add the engines, which I guess could run along the side of the ship, that'd mean that the volume of the ship, 18572.92, and divide by 2, that gives you 9287.46.  Again divide by two, and that gives you 4643.73 meters for each side of the ship.

Since we know two of the dimensions (I envision the engines on both sides of the ship), that means we divide 4643.73 by 75.6 and 18.9 (height and length), and that leaves you with 3.25 meters of engine space for each side of the ship.  3.25 times 2 (for both sides of the ship) gives you 6.5, added to 13, this gives you 19.5.

So the final dimensions of the ship would be about 75.6 meters long, 18.9 meters tall, and 19.5 meters wide.  Basically a long metal box, like I originally speculated.
 
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FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE

"and a forward and rear entrance that doesn't have a rear "

I don't undertand the bit where you say that...  What does that mean exactly.  Are you saying there's and entrance on either side of the ship or what?  But then you say there's no rear?  I need a visual or something.  Tried to build one myself, but that was basically not it.
 
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*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Heh comnet formatting isn't helping you much there. Bricks is a good visual representation though. So you've got that and then the engines on either side? Where is the engineering section/ engine core? Part of the maintenance bay? Or another part entirely?
 
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Admiral Japheth Cappadocious, Krath Templar
Naval Commander in Chief, Captain of the mSSD Atrus
Headmaster of the Dark Jedi Order Academy
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NCC/ADM Japheth Cappadocious/NHC-1/Alpha 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=MA=)(=SCPA=)(=FCO=)[BRC][LSM][MC:1][KC:OC][IGC][MoH]
HM/KT Japheth Cappadocious/DC-3/Krath Order/Elite Griffen Sect/VEDJ/VE/[SoY][EoP]

How about having the engine core behind the maintenance bay instead of behind the docking bay?

So something like:

0===
  ==

The "0" is the engines, the first equal sign is the engine core area, the middle equal sign is the maintenance bay, the third one is the cockpit, and the two on the bottom are hangars.
 
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Revenge is what holds this galaxy together. Without it, the universe would be a boring place.

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Senior Chief Petty Officer and Reporter Jack Nebulax (*Formerly and No-Longer a ComNet Spammer*), Imperial Navy and VE Today Staff, Vast Empire.
XO/FL/SCPO Jack Nebulax/Nazgul 5 (2-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=) (=*SA*=) [SV] [VC:S]
Rep|Int/Rep Jack Nebulax/Rep: 4/Reporters-Interviewers/VE/VET
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Admiral Jack Nebulax, third-in-command of the Auroran Defense Fleet (ADF) and leader of Nemesis Wing (Wing I)