The AIRBOSS GOTHA was a mainstay light military aircraft during the Expansion Period.
Clones and variants of the craft are still used for atmospheric operations on dozens of worlds today. The aircraft is robust and is easily repaired and refitted.
Aerospace industrialist Frederick Ling saw the need for a military aircraft that could be employed in all conditions all atmospheres.
Ling said: “I am going to create a strike airplane that will be prepped, maintained, and piloted by a single person. One man, one airplane.”
Ling’s goal was not literally realized, but he came close to achieving the spirit of it. By the end of the Old Era, small-scale battle aircraft had become highly specialized. Fighters, interceptors, tactical bombers, reconnaissance craft had reached a level of such over-sophistication, they were becoming impractical to operate. 3000 technicians might be required to keep a single aircraft operational. The decision to launch an aircraft became more a financial consideration than a tactical one.
The feature of the Gotha that propelled it ahead of competing products was its simplified, pan-atmospheric wing structure. It became clear during the early Expansion Period that aircraft would need to be adaptable to a wide variety of atmospheric parameters. It was not feasible to manufacture a craft solely for Mars usage, another solely for Titan usage, another for oceanic usage, etc. Aerospace companies began to develop ultra-config wings which allowed aircraft to operate in an array of fluid media. Still, those designs that were sophisticated enough for multiplanetary deployment were too expensive and too specialized for wide use.
Frederick Ling set his r&d teams to work studying and analyzing not military craft but exploration and scientific vehicles, which had for decades been coping with growing varieties of atmospheric challenges. From this research, he developed what came to be popularly dubbed the “Ling wing” (a catchy name deliberately promoted by Airboss’ marketing departments). The ling wing was tested on atmospheric science missions at Sol]]’s planets Saturn and Titan, and finally – and most impressively – in the violent windstorms of Neptune. Successfully tried, the design was immediately adapted to Ling’s Gotha attack craft which was well into development.
A story often told to illustrate the Gotha as a symbol of self-reliance is that of Col. Juana Belzer whose Gotha crashed in the Martian desert in a winter dust storm. Rescue attempts were thwarted, and after 12 days, the search was called off. When the 30 day storm finally abated, crews at Mars Summer Station were stunned to see an Airboss Gotha on their scopes, requesting an emergency landing. With nothing but the material and fuel still aboard the craft, Col. Belzer was able to repair the Gotha, get aloft, and fly back to her base – all while staying alive in the tiny cockpit during a Martian dust storm.
The Gotha was built in single (Gotha A) and two-seater (Gotha C) versions. Gotha C was intended for use as a planetary strike craft, the second seat often being home to a defensive countermeasures operator or tactical systems technician.
Gotha aircraft acquitted themselves admirably in the First Err War and in the Err War Proper where they proved a match against the sophisticated and heavily armored African Allied aircraft – not because of their fighting strength but their reslilence. A dogfight sufficient to damage one of the African “Goldilance” aircraft might cost the loss of one Gotha and crippling of another three. While the African Goldilance would be in repairs for a month, the damaged Gothas might be flying again in 48 hours. The two-seater Gotha C was the type most widely used in the conflict, though heavily armed Gotha A craft featured prominently in the Ross Invasion.
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| Common Names:
| Crown Prince Disk, Crown Disk,
Corrie, Crownie, Pissami Disk,
Parastrako Disk, Traco
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|
Agency:
| Reticulan origin
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| Manufacturer:
| Reticulan
|
| Type:
| inter-interstellar transport
atmospheric transport
|
| First Flight:
| unknown
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|
Armament:
| none observed
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|
Power:
| One 115-fueled matter-antimatter
reactor driving three Type
3 gravity wave amplifiers
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| Size:
| Hull diameter – 21.55 m
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| Complement:
| 1 – 3 Reticulan crew |
The “CROWN PRINCE” DISK was a space-going vessel constructed and employed by the Reticulan presence until the end of the Fencepost Period. They were among the most commonly seen Reticulan craft.
The Crown Prince craft were frequently used for “short” interworld and interstellar trips where multiple landings on world surfaces were called for.
Unlike the Reticulan “Sports disks” – very similar to the Crown Prince disk in form and function – human crews were never employed in their operation.
Planet Lannic surface with Reticulan “crown prince” disks, ca. 270 N.E.
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Common Names: |
dragonflier, paleopter,
rocking wing |
| Manufacturer: |
various |
| Type: |
mobile-wing atmospheric
craft |
| First flight: |
80 – 90 N.E.,
“flapping” type (Megear
Craft) 151 N.E |
| Armament: |
according to function |
| Power: |
according to function |
| Size: |
according to function |
| Weight:
| not in catalog |
| Performance: |
according to function |
A DRAGONFLIER is a type of atmospheric craft with at least one pair of moveable wings – more commonly two or three pairs. The wings of a dragonflier move independently of each other, allowing for extreme maneuverability of the aircraft at low airspeeds.
The early designs resembled – and were perhaps inspired by – the “dragon” flying insects of Earth. In 151 N.E., Megear Craft of the Coral Agency, succeeded in flying the first wing-powered (i.e., “flapping”) dragonflier, called the Lictic Flier after the famous test pilot, Gorg Lictic, who had died testing an earlier version of the craft. The Lictic Flier was the first of the second generation of aircraft in which lift was provided completely by a non-rotary moving wing.
The largest dragonflier was a twelve-wing, 82 meter long storm-chaser and rescue craft, called the Traver Cuss class dragonflier|Traver Cuss class. Forty-nine Traver Cuss were built from 336 N.E. – 409 N.E. They were modified for use during the War Period by Coral Agency, and later by Blue Agency, for troop and materiel transport in hot combat zones.
Celebrity naturalist Rocky Strone is a skilled dragonflier pilot and shares ownership of a Traver Cuss dragonflier with the Davis University at Dakka.
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Unnamed Reticulan.
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| Common Names: |
Jonah, Fatso, Mouther,
Holeman, Avagasti, Alphaship |
| Manufacturer: |
Of Reticulan but obscure origin.
Maintained & refitted variously at
Lantil Mybea, Adina Works, Blue
Hub Workyards, Blue
Baresk Workyards |
| Type: |
interstellar heavy cargo carrier |
| First flight: |
unknown,
first observed 189 N.E. |
| Armament: |
Officially unarmed.
(various small guns added
in late Fencepost years
according to mission) |
| Power: |
dual 115 reactors,
quad grav-wave guides,
0.873 light year effective pull |
| Size: |
1200m x 525m x 768m |
| Complement: |
48 human crew,
1 Grey Overseer (early
Fencepost Period) |
The “JONAH” CLASS CARRIER was a type of massive cargo vessel, five of which were given to the Three Agencies by the Reticulans at the beginning of the Fencepost Period. This “Gift of the Jonahs” traditionally marks the end of the Expansion Period.”
The first Jonah spotted by human eyes was the one that became later dubbed “Jonah C”. It was observed, in 189 N.E. in the middle of a formation of Reticulan disks during a covert parley with Your Agency scientific delegates and at that time was surely the largest vehicle ever seen by a human being.
The first humans aboard a Jonah were a delegation of Your Agency and Blue Agency military and diplomatic executives. In 199 N.E., they and their vessel, the frigate Kradelfaus, were taken on a fifty-four day cavalcade of the Grey worlds, terminating at Zeta Reticulum.
The age of the Jonahs could never be determined with certainty. The Reticulans were obstinate in their refusal to disclose even such basic, though vital, information. Best estimates placed the Jonahs at more than 250 years old when the first one was handed over to human control in 203 N.E.
The Jonahs were able to transport massive amounts of cargo – often in the form of other cargo ships. Via very powerful and accurate Reticulan gravity wave drives, they transversed interstellar distances in a matter of hours rather than months or years.
The Jonahs were not the largest carriers employed by the Reticulans. There is some evidence to show that all 5 Jonahs themselves were at one time transferred to one of the Grey Worlds in the hold of one single super-carrier.
“THE GIFT OF THE JONAHS”
The use of the word “gift” is as contentious among historians today as it was to the human population at the time. The Jonahs were in fact on loan. They were piloted by human crews, but always under Reticulan supervision. Blue Agency Executive Mansuel Khalil called the Jonahs “a reward for good behavior”.
Pro-Reticulan historians (see “Reticulan Revisionist History”) have emphasized that the normalization of interstellar trade and commerce after the Expansion Era would have been impossible without the use of the Jonahs, and that panstellar human civilization would have met the fate of the ancient Vikings in the old North Americas – a story to be told of what might have been, instead of the rich and bustling human multi-culture which now dominates more than 430 star systems.
For some decades after the gift of the Jonahs, there was a movement among pro-Reticulan radicals to begin a new yearly calendar system from that point. They submitted that that the Calendar of the New Era should be jettisoned in favor of a Calendar of the Grey Fatherhood. In this calendar, the Gift of the Jonahs would be marked as year ZERO, and years before or after marked “pre-Jonah” or “post-Jonah”. This idea quickly lost steam since commerce had long-since adopted the New Era calendar as its standard. When the gift of the Jonahs resulted in an unprecedented boom in commerce and trade, the fate of any alternative calendar systems was sealed.
LIST OF JONAH CRAFT
- Jonah A (destroyed by Your Agency sky-navy, 370 N.E.)
- Jonah B (destroyed by Reticulan disks, 367 N.E.)
- Jonah D (scuttled 451 N.E.)
- Jonah C (withdrawn by Reticulan authority, in 372 N.E.)
- Jonah E (withdrawn by Reticulan authority, in 372 N.E.)
The RESIDENCES OF THE NAMELESS GREAT SUPREME EMINENCE are a series of immense island palaces on the planet Aeminal. It is a destination for pilgrims from all over the Three Agencies.
The Residence buildings are composed largely of alabastar and superdense carbon and extend across five small islands in Arach Bay, at the southern tip of Aeminal’s pan-hemispheric, Aral Continent. The islands are called – in decreasing order of size: The Agel, The Mar Sunlamp, Makek, Takek, and The Princess Sandal.
Crowds gathered to see the Residences of the Great Eminence, viewed from
north rim of Arach Bay. Visible are (l. to r.) Island Takek, The Princess
Sandal, and Island Makek.
Flight is prohibited in the entire hemisphere surrounding The Residence and visitors to Aeminal must land at the Ouria Field, literally on the other side of the planet from Arach Bay. Travel to the residence is solely overland.
Pilgrims may stay for years on the shore of the Arach Bay, hoping to catch some sign of the presence of the Nameless Supreme Eminence. As a result, Arach City originally just a small port for local seacraft, has become one of the fastest growing urban centers in the Tres Magnae.
Surface development on Aeminal was deregulated when the Supreme Eminence established his residence there and contractors from Coral Agency have poured tremendous sums of money into building infrastructure and services to support the mushrooming pilgrim population.
Planet Aeminal, at the edge of Coral Agency
Arach Bay and the surrounding coastline are awash with human corpses. Dozens of people die each day simply by being forced over the rocks and into the ocean where the cold temperatures and caustic solutes make for a quick death. In the Aeminal spring of 401 N.E., roughly 5500 people died, when all the lights of the Palace Formal, on the Island Makek, were suddenly illuminated, visible in the pre-dawn mist for 25 minutes. Thousands (one estimate put the crowd at 225,000) surged forward to see the rare phenomenon. Men, women, and children were forced into the water en masse. Eyewitnesses described some people deliberately throwing themselves in and attempting to swim toward Island Makek and the Palace Formal.
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Reticulan sports disk, 5 O.E.
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| Common Names: |
Sports Disk, Sports Model, Lider,
Sombi, Grayshuttle, Shooter,
Lighter, Graylighter, Natto,
Gnat, Tittipal, Epal, Buzzsaw,
Creamcrop, Backcrop,
Shiu Net, Shiu Mes, et al. |
| Employed by: |
Reticulan presence, until
371 N.E. |
| Manufacturer: |
Reticulan origin |
| Type: |
inter-interstellar transport,
atmospheric transport |
| First Flight: |
before ca. 1800 O.E |
| Armament: |
various application of gravity
wave tech,
rarely high-power particle
weapons |
| Power: |
1 115-fueled
matter-antimatter reactor,
3 Type 3 gravity wave
amplifiers |
| Size: |
16.08 m (hull diameter) |
| Complement: |
1 – 3 Reticulan crew,
sometimes modified for
2 human crew |
The “SPORTS DISK” was one of the most commonly seen Reticulan vehicles before the Throwing Off and the end of the Fencepost Period.
The ships were operated by one to three Reticulan crew and are equally functional in all but the most high gravity environments.
A number of Sports Disk greycraft are still operated across the Tres Magna by private collectors, local police forces, and even by branches of Coral Agency’s sky navy.
In this famous image from the USSA Aventura mission
to Dakka, a Reticulan sports disk is spotted in orbit, 5 O.E.
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| Common Names: |
Venger Class Attack
Cruiser, “Avenger” |
| Agency: |
Your Agency |
| Manufacturer: |
Adina Works Ltd.,
Barnard II
(178 – 298 N.E.) |
| Type: |
interworld defensive
cruiser / interceptor |
| First Flight: |
180 N.E. |
| Armament: |
light long-range arms,
First Configuration:
1 x Skybow Large-spectrum
laser,
4 x Noisie CPB,
2 x wizard fulltent
missile launchers |
| Power: |
8 x 2nd gen. hypo-fission
wide motors,
7 Aeleron Trims |
| Size: |
92 m x 42 m x 38.9 m |
| Complement: |
130 crew |
The “VENGER” CLASS FAST ATTACK CRUISER was Your Agency’s principle light attack space vessel at the end of the Expansion Period and was used extensively into the Fencepost Period.
The Venger was the heir to Your Agency’s Christian class cruiser which had performed so admirably during the Aphrophine Conflict against Blue Agency. The ships were manufactured almost exclusively by Adina Works, the famed shipbuilder headquartered at Barnard II.
Vengers continued to be employed during the Fencepost Period, initially for extraplanetary defense and policing. Occasionally, they were used as first-strike attack craft, deployed by larger carriers.
Though its use as a tactical war solution was effective, the Venger was not successful as a major deterrent. The technological glitches that had hindered the early Blue Agency battleships from becoming major threats had been overcome, and the bigger ships with heavier weapons were becoming the lynchpin of most sky-battle strategy by the beginning Fencepost Era.
The developing arms race between the agencies was dampened by the appearance of the Reticulan presence, whose influence tended to deter open war between the agencies.
The Venger ship, easily adapted to policing became one of the most used armed vessels of the Fencepost Period. And its manufacturer Adina Works Ltd., boasted in promotional materials that every single authority in Your Agency had at least one Venger cruiser in its fleet. The real number was never above half that – though the figure is still a testament to the Venger’s effectiveness in local defense and policing.
Over 240 Venger attack cruisers were commissioned. At least 20 are still in active use, with their original ID number, by various local security forces across all three agencies.
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