Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="TDRandall" data-source="post: 1857907" data-attributes="member: 4808">The Royal QuasarThe current flagship of Empress Fleet Cruiselines, the Royal Quasar is a wonder of modern technology and a sight to behold.  This sleak behemoth is able to house nearly 25000 passengers on luxurious tours lasting from two to five weeks in length.  (There are always five weeks of stored goods, the final tour length is restricted by FTL engine input materials, which at constant burn will last two weeks and allows the ship to cover nearly 200 LY before refueling. Disaster relief workers estimate nearly a quarter million sophonts could be housed within the hull if required for emergency evacuation needs.)Every external vertical surface is composed of the compound radnist-thorium-cyclate which allows instant change from full transparency to full opacity at the merest request of a room's occupants.  Legions of stewards and staff can be summoned for any type of service given 10 minutes or less of notice.  Nearly every type of food, drink, and environment (atmosphere, radiation, gravity) is found somewhere within the myriads of lounges, pools, gyms, theaters, restaurants, emporiums, parlors, etc.Such a vessel requires tremendous energy, and a host of 10 high capacity tesseract-singularity generators provide for all of its non-motive power needs and more.  The extra output available when teh maneuvering thrusters have been cut and exotic environments allowed to lapse after the liner slips into orbit 10000 miles above a planet has given rise to a legendary port of call display.  Every spare joule of energy available is routed to the outer skin and visibly radiated so that the ship easily becomes a beacon in the sky to any surface dweller.  At such moments the brightness can easily overshadow almost any habitable planet's natural star.  The "Call to Port" commonly lasts 4-8 hours before dimming for actual disembarking and loading for the next leg of a cruise (a concurrent process that can take up to 16 hours even with all 20 shuttles in action).There have been some interesting stories surrounding the Royal Quasar: - Some staff and even passengers have gone missing at times, never to be found again.  None know where they go but current hypotheses include any and all of: lost and killed by gatoroaches said to live in the reclamation tubes of the ship; killed and/or spaced by members of illegal groups (terrorists, mobs, etc.); eaten or otherwise willfully served/subjected to the truly rich/debauched passengers' various "appetites" and then any evidence removed; taking on new personas and becoming "passengers" for the next cruise.  The official explanation for such events is "disembarking without giving notice to existing command staff".- Some ports of call have issued complaints to Empress Fleet headquarters, citing that existing flora/fauna die/overpopulate as a result of the irregular brightness of the liner that upsets ecosystems.  No evidence compelling enough to the company has been presented to its ownership, however, so the practice continues.  Some, however, say the company has ignored plenty of adequate evidence and are therefore planning to take matters into their own hands.NEXT: The Filcher Anomaly</blockquote>

Verification