Free Explorer Emerald

The Emerald was originally built on Kantauri Five and titled Jannisary as a coast guard irregular vessel to patrol the interplanetary spacelanes of the Kantaur system, but after its hull fractured in pursuit of Betan lurra smugglers, the ship was scrapped.

It was in the scrapyards orbiting Kantauri Three that Boruz Metalla discovered it. A talented pilot, she knew that she’d be able to fly it, however delicate the procedure might be. She purchased the remains of the ship, as well as a thirty-year-old navigational computer and a Gargant long-haul engine for the price of materials, and worked for two years with Lettar Shur to assemble the sleek, green ship.

Note the now-removed hyperlight system on the elevation. It has since been removed as it is now redundant and expensive to repair.

The two set off, both with an urgency they refused to explain to the other, for Wild Space. Three weeks into their voyage, they were both breathing more easily as all human civilization diminished to a point in the aft viewscreen.

It was at that moment that an alarm sounded, but too late. The collision killed Shur instantly, but in the ensuing long, dark weeks drifting in space, Boruz discovered that the Emerald was now more than a derelict ship with a sole, starving survivor. It was alive. And it spoke in Boruz’s mind with the voice of Shur, describing to her the threads of consciousness that wove together this part of the galaxy — a web that they would soon again be able to traverse.

Join me in Wild Space

The Emerald (like the Wanderer in the previous post) is part of an exploration of a µShock: pointed toward the development of Shock:2, but right now it’s just a bunch of sketches. There are some moves, there are some procedures of play, but not enough design to make the game worth sharing. But you can get it there by backing me up on the xenoglyph Patreon! Become a xenophiliac and get all my games and other publications as they come out in PDF, plus hard copies of the ones that make it into print for the price of shipping!

Modular systems are a function of industrial society. But do people of The Fifth World still know how to agree to standards? With their acute interest in efficiency, I think they might have carried that lesson forward!

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