Kharos Ship Catalog ยท Chapter 3
The Kharos Look
A Kharos ship looks like it has already been repaired once, because it has, or soon will be. Spacers read the maker from the silhouette before the transponder resolves.
Materials and Marks
Hulls. Oxidized steel under blackened red-brown armor, with yellow hazard paint on every area where a crew works: engine access, winch drums, cargo frames, gantry rails. Kharos oxidation and Funtari patchwork are a design, not neglect: a hull leaves the yard clean and in working order, with one or two neatly fitted replacement panels already on it.
Frames. Exposed trusses and ribs, with the structure visible because the structure is what the crew works on.
Engines. Oversized nozzles, visible coolant lines in Coolant Teal and external coolant rails. The engines are the biggest thing on a small hull.
Landing gear and racks. Thick landing gear on every hull that lands. External tool racks, open tool rails and removable panels along the flanks.
Interiors. Cramped and practical. Cabling is visible and panels come off by hand. Crews know which bulkhead to kick when the ventilation fan rattles. The ship may not be comfortable. It can usually be fixed.
The Rebuild Plate. A flat steel plate on the bridge block records each mark the hull has had (Chapter 10). It carries plain yellow chevron bars, one for each mark, and no writing. Serial plates in this book are blank.
The Three Hull Styles
Industrial Scaffold. An open trussed frame with a bridge block and engines fixed to it, tool rails and gantries along the structure. Used for the Prospector, the KR-41, the KR-51 and the KR-61.
Needle Cluster. A bundle of cylindrical hulls and engine needles clustered around a small crew pod or a cargo core. Used for the KR-38 and the KR-27.
Buried Engine Barge. An armored barge hull with the engines buried in tunnels at the stern and the hold open to the frame. Used for the KR-47 and the KR-72.
Telling a Mark by Sight
A mark changes the hull, and the change shows. A spacer who knows the line reads the mark from a distance by counting chevron bars on the Rebuild Plate, then checking the hardware against this table.
| Line | Mark | What shows |
|---|---|---|
| Prospector | Mk II | A second sealed tool-and-sample housing on the flank; a longer rear cargo rack |
| KR-41 | Mk II | A larger engine housing with larger nozzles; bolt-on plate bands along both flanks |
| KR-41 | Mk III | Two reaction thruster clusters at the nose; one more equipment housing on the cargo frame |
| KR-41 | Mk IV | A second plate band; another equipment housing |
| KR-41 | Mk V | One sealed engine housing with a bolted collar; the crawlway hatch plated over |
| KR-38 | Mk II | A thicker armored nose collar; one more coolant cylinder along the dorsal spine |
| KR-51 | Mk II | Bolt-on blackened red-brown armor plates on the bridge block and scaffold sides |
| KR-51 | Mk III | Thruster clusters at the bow corners; one more equipment housing on the open deck |
| KR-51 | Mk IV | A second sensor housing on the bridge block; a cargo rack on the open deck |
| KR-27 | Mk II | One more engine needle in the cluster; a row of coolant fins on top |
| KR-27 | Mk III | Thruster pods at the needle tips; an armored collar around the crew pod |
| KR-47 | Mk II | A squat power housing beside the rig; a larger ore hopper on the hold frame |
| KR-47 | Mk III | A second radiator bank on the power housing; a hopper extension |
| KR-61 | Mk II | Two more pod cradles along the flank; a longer cargo deck |
| KR-61 | Mk III | A larger aft engine cluster; new coolant radiators; a weld band where the spine was rebuilt |
| KR-61 | Mk IV | Heavier armor plates over the hull sides; a longer deck |
| KR-72 | Mk II | Bolt-on armor bands along the barge sides; a longer hold frame |
| KR-72 | Mk III | A second pod rack on the frame; cross-braces |