Ship Details
BARRIER [EM-9S/VZ8-5GK]: ARDENT INITIATIVE REFERENCE ONLY
This document contains an overview of the Alliance Exploration Ship ARDENT.
AES Ardent Structure
Size
The AES-Ardent measures 600 metres from the ship’s prow in the cephalic module to the keel in her thorax. Due to a tapered design, the ship’s width varies considerably: the thoracic module has a diameter of 200m, while the ship’s widest point as measured from between the rearmost traversal brackets is 400m across. Each of the secondary modules is 100m wide. While much of the ship is traversable with multiple mobility modes, a people mover system is threaded between the modules to allow for rapid mass transit.
The Ardent’s crew manifest allows for up to 1000 operatives aboard. According to Alliance standard nomenclature, the Ardent’s size and complexity gives it the designation of a Melchior-class ship. This is the fifth-largest category recognised by the Alliance as a vessel rather than a mobile installation a la Geostation Kessler. It is roughly 18 times as large as the standard Alliance fighter craft, and twice as large as a Salmanazar-class interplanetary freighter.
Cluster Command system
Modular orbital installations were developed by several Alliance species prior to first contact. The ability to remove, repair and replace components of a spaceborne construct without compromising its core functionality or removing it from situ is an essential factor in the longevity and stability of the Alliance’s ansible relays, Lagrange gates, voidports, and the like.
Modular mobile voidcraft are considerably rarer. The Alliance standard for such vessels is the CC (Cluster Command) system. A CC ship like the AES-Ardent can be compared to a terrestrial aircraft carrier, where the bulk of the ship – i.e. the cephalothoracic modules aboard the Ardent – provide vital functions like comms, energy, life support, and habitation to their own dedicated crew (A-COM) and to the craft docked aboard (the secondary modules).
The design is deliberately interdependent. Without her secondary modules, the Ardent is just a flying greenhouse: self-sufficient, able to move and communicate, but lacking the tools to fulfil her mission and all but incapable of landing safely in the uncharted regions she was built to explore. Without the primary modules, the Ardent’s divisions could not survive for long: while each secondary module is a sophisticated voidcraft in its own right (with its own in-flight life support and means of propulsion), they are dedicated to mission functions and cannot indefinitely sustain a crew without primary support.
In addition, the manifold collapse drive that allows the Ardent to cross vast interstellar distances is built into the primary modules. The secondary modules are capable of local space travel and atmospheric flight, but any division severed from the rest of the Ardent would be cast adrift until contact and support is re-established.
Intracommunications
To prevent the ionospheric pollution that may be caused by conventional communications methods, the Ardent is equipped with a system-range Unterwelt communicator, which uses principles of quantum entanglement to directly transmit information between devices. This also allows the Ardent to remain in contact with ground teams and detached modules where other communication would be impeded by interference or physical shielding.
Unterwelt communication is instantaneous once a connection is established, but that connection requires the sender and the receiver to remain continuously powered and in stable positions relative to each other. As such, ground teams are accompanied by an A-COM detachment responsible for maintaining a line to the Ardent, and patching through any requests or messages (much like a switchboard operator of old).
The only context in which Unterwelt communication does not work is while the ship is undergoing manifold collapse, whether it is travelling between systems or concealing itself. This is because the process removes the ship from real space for the duration; from the perspective of a communicator outside of the manifold, anything inside it simply does not exist.
The Ardent is also equipped with a number of ansible receivers, each attuned to a relay on one of the project’s contributing planets. In layman’s terms, ansibles are an Alliance technology for interstellar messaging, as they allow for communication that appears to be faster-than-light: an ansible sender delivers packets of data via manifold collapse, much faster than would be possible within the usual constraints of real space.
While sending data is much easier than transporting an entire voidcraft, manifold collapse is still an intricate and energy-intensive process. The Ardent receives broadcasts from its planetary sponsors at regular intervals, which contain news from each planet along with personal messages submitted by the kith and kin of Ardent personnel.
The Ardent’s own manifold collapse drive is capable of responding to the Alliance via the same technology. Even with dedicated T/OM assistance, however, information-scale manifold collapse takes a long time – and only takes longer as the Ardent travels farther away from Alliance space. As such, ansible responses are generally limited to logs of the Ardent’s positioning, progress and status, with the line otherwise kept clear for emergencies.
Repairs & Resources
The Ardent is built to be able to repair, refit and sustain herself and her crew indefinitely. From the thoracic agricultural biome that provides food and life support to the rest of the ship to the drone fleet managed by T/OM-Cardea, the Ardent is well-equipped for unassisted voyages into deep space – and whatever she cannot provide for herself, she can direct her crew to find: cutting-edge Sweeper imaging allows for the identification of vital and unreproducible materials within a distant system before the ship makes the jump.
What allows for this flexible self-sufficiency is FABREP technology, which allows for common materials and objects to be printed from energy and base matter – in practical terms, from thin air. Fabricator/replicator terminals can be found everywhere aboard the ship, from habitation pods to entertainment venues. All of these individual terminals are threaded together into a central authorization system; while food and sundries can be created by any crew member, certain hazardous compounds are restricted to staff with a certain clearance level or role.
FABREP is quick and simple, from the end-user’s perspective; materials can be located in seconds and delivered within minutes. Behind the screen, the system is incredibly complex and sensitive, and it takes the combined effort of the automated repair drones and the onboard Taskminders division to keep delays at a minimum. Crew are reminded to be mindful of each other and the system as a whole, and to think before they FABREP.
With much of its equipment (including clothing and tools) produced on-demand via FABREP and recycled back into the system once it is no longer required, the Ardent was not built with redundant cargo space in mind. Each division module has a limited amount of storage space for critical and irreproducible materials related to its mission – for example, the cryo-containment unit for biological samples aboard the Kenolab, or the isolation brig built into the Mattock module – but, in general, the Ardent depends on its ability to FABREP what it needs when it needs it.
Transport & Travel
Interstellar Travel
Alliance vessels travel between star systems via manifold collapse, which (in brief) involves generating a high-energy spacetime tunnel to a target destination, through which an encapsulated object can be pushed until it emerges at the other side.
Depending on the distances involved and the size of the travelling object, the time it takes to generate a spacetime manifold for the purposes of a “jump” can vary: it may take only a few hours to reach a neighbouring system in a standard vessel, while a ship the size of the Ardent might spend weeks at a time outside of real space before its arrival. Manifold collapse is in any case faster than attempting to cross such distances conventionally, as the nature of the tunnelling bypasses the speed of light by taking the vessel outside of the constraints of real space. An object that would travel more slowly via manifold collapse than it would through conventional space is said to have crossed the “Rabelais threshold”; as a vessel would need to have the mass of a planet to do so, this is a purely hypothetical barrier.
A ship in transit via manifold collapse is safely contained within a bubble of conventional spacetime, and therefore experiences spatial and temporal phenomena normally within itself – save for the lack of conventional reference points, like gravity and stars.
The appearance of a collapsing manifold from within is kaleidoscopic, with extreme optical distortions occurring on the edge between the bubble and the tunnel through which it passes. Kenophenomena may be glimpsed and studied on such flights, rendered visible by the lensing of the bubble; the Vologium aboard the Ardent’s Kenolab module is especially popular during these periods of transit.
Within Local Systems
The Ardent was designed to be safe, reliable and stable. These priorities mean that it is very slow in real space, though not as unwieldy as cargo ships (which tend to be smaller, but denser). T/OM piloting allows it to make the most of its own inertia and local gravity – slingshotting, after a fashion, and saving its propulsion system for minute corrections.
Atmospheric flight and landings are impractical for vessels of the Ardent’s size, forcing it to rely on its secondary modules to deliver ground teams to mission locations. Smaller shuttles can be assembled via FABREP and mobilised to transport key personnel, allowing for rapid movement between the modules and the Ardent in orbit.
Capacity & Crew
The interior spaces of the Ardent have a uniform design, having been built for multiple traversal modes and the comfort of multiple species living side by side. Habitation pods and work areas are adapted to suit those who live and work within them, and individual expression is encouraged as long as it does not infringe on the access or comfort of others.
Common areas, like the agricultural biome, are designed to be expansive and airy, the better to encourage relaxation within those spaces. The cephalic and secondary modules are considerably busier – in particular, the Taskminders module often resembles a packed market – but the ship is carefully designed to prevent crush and fire risks.
Crewmembers are generally encouraged to explore the ship when they are off duty, so as to encourage intellectual curiosity and social cohesion outside of one’s division. Only a few areas are off-limits to unassigned personnel at all times – the reactor complex, for example, is both too crucial and too dangerous to permit idle curiosity, though guided tours and informational seminars via T/OM terminal are available. The bridge and helm are always open to visitors when a transmission is not underway, as befits their ceremonial function.
The Ardent’s 1000-strong crew manifest is categorised by division. The majority of the crew are unassigned or A-COM operatives, responsible for and predominantly located on the Ardent. Ground teams, authorised to leave the ship on missions, are assembled by the divisions themselves from suitable volunteers; operatives are cycled in and out of ground duties, so that resentment and/or tedium do not interfere with their work performance.
Crew are signed on to terms of service that last for the duration of the Ardent’s current voyage; at the end of their tenure, when the ship returns to Alliance space, they may choose (or be recommended) to sign on for another term – or else depart the ship, perhaps to return for a future tour. Members of crew may request, or be assigned, to onboard duties for the remainder of their tenure for multiple reasons – in most circumstances, this is because a crewmember is suffering from profound emotional or physical stress that cannot be managed alongside standard duties.
Cases of extreme dereliction or circumvention of duty may see a crewmember sentenced to the Ardent’s isolation brig as a last resort. In addition to its recommendation by the DIPLO Ethical Prosecution Committee, this approach consolidates the cost of securing and sustaining prisoners into the comparatively minimal energy cost of maintaining the isolation units for the duration.
Entertainment & Welfare
In addition to its crew, the Ardent has the theoretical capacity to comfortably house up to 9,000 additional passengers – though to do so would require the expansion of the habitation cylinders and attendant conversion of much of the agricultural biome and other common areas into housing. The number of non-crew passengers onboard on most voyages is usually in the double digits: these consist of visiting dignitaries, functionaries, and scientists, who are housed in the modules most appropriate to their reason for travelling aboard the Ardent. This is generally an ambassador’s suite in the DIPLO module, if no other assignment is suggested.
The crew quarters are contained within the two habitation cylinders within the Ardent’s thorax. Each of these is made up of “pods”, self-contained modular cabins that provide all basic amenities for the person to which they have been assigned, and which may be further customised at the crewmember’s request: for example, crewmates that wish to cohabitate may apply to have their pods moved into adjoining positions and combined into a single larger living space. The rotundas connecting these pods are common areas, which contain communal dining areas, FABREP stations, T/OM terminals, and entertainment facilities.
Screens are provided throughout the ship for the display of mission-critical transmissions. In private pods and designated relaxation areas, these screens are free for crewmembers to use as they see fit: the T/OM-assisted data archives aboard the ship contain a vast repertoire of visual entertainment media from across the galaxy, and impromptu festivals to share in a fellow crewmate’s culture are both common and encouraged. Crewmates of varying rank and role intermingle, a choice designed to prevent class divides from forming between the different strata of the crew.
Outside of these team-building social events, the Diplo division module is the hub of the ship’s nightlife. Eateries, dancehalls and omni-sensory theatre venues are located along the module’s promenades, befitting its primary function as a diplomatic venue. One restaurant and its bar stand out particularly in the eyes of crew and guests alike – the Pyrosome, a traditional-style Omdua establishment with two notable traits: the quality of its breathable concoctions, or “cocktrails”, and the fact that none of its food is produced via FABREP. (The flavour of replicated carbohydrates and proteins can be underwhelming for those used to natural fare, which drives many crewmembers to inventive and occasionally alarming condiment combinations.)
In general, the facilities aboard the Ardent are distinctly adequate. The toilets work, the floors are clean, the food filling and plentiful. What makes it come alive – that motivates the crew beyond their mission is the same as on any other outpost, township or vessel in the Alliance: the people, and what they share and take part in together.
Defensive Capabilities
Practical combat experience in the theatre of space is scarce across the Alliance. What has been gleaned from skirmishes with SHADOW raiders and THRONE dogfighters has been applied to the defensive armament of the Ardent, which combines its idealistic mission of peace and understanding with a realistic strategy. In short: hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
The hull of the ship and its modules is studded with electromagnetic point-defence stations, which use targeted electromagnetic pulses to disable interceptor craft and approaching missiles. These are co-ordinated by T/OM-Dali, while the drone fleet under the command of T/OM-Cardea pursues a deterrent approach, using FABREP torpedoes to distract and direct the foe into a disadvantageous position. Meanwhile, the otherwise dormant T/OM-Fury activates for an information assault, devoting its processing power toward hacking into the enemy vessel’s electronic systems and remotely disabling their weapons.
Supporting all of these efforts is an Alliance-standard Caul shield – an envelope of projected energy that covers the ship, protecting it from harm by diffusing the force of impacts across itself. While sustained fire and boarding capsules can penetrate the shield, the enemy must prosecute this strategy while under assault by the Ardent’s torpedoes and remote system attack. Few hostile vessels have the stamina for such an endeavour.
Complicating matters is the fact that Caul shields are incompatible with manifold collapse travel, which would otherwise be the Ardent’s easiest way out of danger. A manifold cannot be constructed through a Caul’s envelope, as the energy constructs output by the drive are simply absorbed by the Caul – and so the Ardent must strategically disable parts of its own shield so that it can construct the manifold tunnel, putting parts of itself at risk so that the entire ship might be saved.
A manifold collapse tunnel can, however, act as another means of defence. When it anticipates hostility, or needs to remain incognito, the Ardent’s drive can generate a looping manifold – a torus of spacetime, complete with the usual bubble around the ship itself. While it is “in the loop”, the Ardent can simultaneously destroy and reconstruct the torus as it revolves, idling, outside of real space – and therefore safe from all threats, and invisible to all conventional scanning technology.
This approach is not undertaken lightly, as the Ardent cannot be contacted until it closes the loop and returns to real space: ground teams and modules outside of the Ardent are stranded until it re-emerges. Supporting A-Com detachments are trained to act on their own initiative in such scenarios, in addition to following the orders left by their colleagues onboard the Ardent. The typical procedure is to set a time and place at which the Ardent will return to real space, allowing ground teams to evacuate and prepare for a rendezvous at that location.