An Orion-class Star Clipper
An Orion-class Star Clipper is a type of Imperial fast clipper transport ship. The Orions are something of a rarity amongst the Imperial Fleet's starships -- a fast transport or star-clipper. Though they are designed for carrying primarily cargo, their lean forms, raked bows, and powerful plasma drive tubes are less optimised for cargo-hauling and more designed for travelling at speed.
The Imperium swarms with transport vessels. Millions of these civilian voidcraft plough the space lanes, ferrying pilgrims, ore, fuel, foodstuffs, weapons, materiel, machine parts and luxury goods to untold billions of eager consumers across the galaxy.
There are countless classes of transport vessel, and even the mightiest Rogue Trader dynasty, replete with fleets of ancient warships, requires humble transport craft to carry the spoils of their conquests back to Imperial space.
Role[]
Orion-class starships are constructed to transport smaller, high-value cargoes that must reach their destination quickly or through hostile territory. Rather than rely on armed escorts, Orions travel alone. They trust in their speed to see them clear of most void predators, and count on their weapons to send off those quick enough to keep up.
Often they are successful, but Orions do have one major drawback. The redundant internal bulkheads and exterior armour that would normally be added to Human voidships has been forgone in order to increase the star clipper's speed and cargo capacity. As a result, a few stiff hits can easily cripple an Orion. Due to the precisely calibrated nature of this ship's engines, it cannot be equipped with components that increase its armour plating.
Orion-class Star Clippers are optimised for cargo transport and will never be able to stand up to a true, dedicated warship in combat. However, it does maintain hull space for two dedicated weapons batteries or other weapon components which may allow it to hold an attacker at bay long enough for it to use its greater speed and acceleration to escape.
Dimensions[]
- Hull: Transport (Fast Clipper)
- Class: Orion-class Star Clipper
- Dimensions: 3 kilometres long, approximately 0.4 kilometres abeam at fins
- Mass: 8 megatonnes approximately
- Crew: Approximately 14,000 crew
- Acceleration: 5.4 gravities maximum sustainable acceleration
Sources[]
- Rogue Trader: Into the Storm (RPG), pg. 151