Albedo Anthropomorphics - Spacecraft

EDF scout ship Flanked by two ACV (Autonomous Combat Vehicles)

Spacecraft in Albedo were about as hard scifi as you could get and still be scifi. Big, useform and about as plain as you could get without being lame. They came in tow forms - glorified space shuttles and large cylindrical FTL vessels. In either form, they remind me of the ships from Traveller a lot.

From what I can tell, offensive weapons fall into two categories - Autonomous Combat Vehicles (ACV) and direct fire weapons (laser, particle beams, masers). Each has its role in combat depending on the type of engagement.

The most universally useful is the ACV which is a non-explosive, self-guiding, hyperkinetic smart weapon. Capable of coordinating with one another and the launching vessel, ACVs juke and dodge, dogfighting with one another until one of them can score a hit on an enemy vessel. They do not carry payloads, hitting with enough velocity that they can inflict severe damage or even destroy another vessel with the sheer force of their impact alone. Such weapons are useful during planetary assaults and closing engagements where speeds are too great for the effective use of energy weapons.

Energy weapons are most useful during chasing engagements, orbital encounters or in other situations where ships are in closer proximity to one another or where the encounter is such that greater speeds have not been reached or where maneuvering space is limited. The nature of energy weapons in Albedo requires them to have time to chew away at the armor and hulls of opposing vessels.

Ships in Albedo are equipped with advanced sensors and navigational tools as well as a plethora of computer-assisted navigation and helm controls. Internal systems, like many things in the Albedo universe, are heavily automated and computer-assisted. Everything from crew quarters to engineering and sickbay facilities are equipped with computerized systems and robotic tools.

As the ships in Albedo do not benefit from artificial gravity, their decks are stacked with up and down only relative while the ship is under thrust and generating its own "gravity". When at a stop, the ship interior spaces are under zero-gravity conditions, Interior spaces are kept clean, useful and uncluttered. Vecro patches, anchor hooks, and push-through portals are numerous to facilitate low and zero-gravity conditions.

The two ship diagrams below show the relative arrangements of decks and ship components between an FTL scout and destroyer type vessel.


(Click on pictures for larger images)

Shuttles and other interface craft are fairly standard fair in Albedo being mostly aerodynamic shapes using vectored thrust for maneuvering in the atmosphere. Most of them function like huge aerodynes in the atmosphere. There are exceptions and various heavy-lifting vessels also exist, looking much like the spheroid dropships from the Battletech universe.

I'm not sure where to go with Albedo from here. I think I've touched on most of the really cool tech and style bits. There is a lot about the setting and the cultures portrayed in it that I could go into, but outside of the context of the comics, I'm not sure they are really all that exciting. If I think of anything else about the Albedo setting that is post-worthy, I'll be sure to do so.

Hope you've enjoyed reading about Albedo.

Take care,

-Eli