What Do X-boat Pilots Do?

[rancke]

The theoretical noble, or group, willing to pay for his own source of information is in for an even bigger bill than he is expecting. To say a small group of ships can average J5.5 over a long distance is probably true- this does not allow for regular news.

to ensure monthly updates, you'll need about two couriers for every 20-22 parsecs between Capital and the world where the recipient of the news is located. The cost of a couple of dozen couriers isn't much compared to the taxes of a world with pop level 8+.

To ensure a private network can spread news of the Emperor's assassination as fast as possible, it has to have been waiting for the event. Otherwise, there is no way of guaranteeing that the monthly courier didn't leave an hour ago- making it a month before the private couriers can even send the information.

And if the J6 courier sets off four jumps behind, it'll catch up with a J4 network in about 50 parsecs (It'll be even quicker to catch up with a network with the canonical average of the X-boats, said to be 2.6 parsecs/week).

Even leaving ships in reserve for urgent information cannot reliably beat the xboats- either the definition of urgent is so strict the ships never actually leave, or loose enough that there is likely to be at least a day or two of delay waiting for the next ship in.

A ship on standby will equal or beat the X-boats on any distance.

None of this prevents private J6 ships- but they will tend to lose on turnaround time.

That they will, but nothing even remotely near compensating for the two-parsec difference in performance.


Hans

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

I've come into this discussion late, and have not read through each and every post, so please forgive me if I offer an answer to the question, "Why are X-Boat pilots on board when the ship can operate automatically?" several pages after it may have already been answered.

The answer is simple.

Any ship that precipitates from jump space without a live crewmember on board can technically be declared derelict, claimed as salvage, and re-licensed to the finder. This would not be so much of a problem if the X-Boat arrives in a system with a class A or B starport, but what if it misjumps into a system that does not have a regular X-Boat tender standing by? Any old belter could latch onto an unmanned X-Boat and effectively become the new owner of not only the vessel, but its contents, as well. Imagine the windfall that would occur for the belter, what with all those computers and memory chips, not to mention a higher-quality jump drive than he could ever hope to afford otherwise.

Which brings up other questions: How heavily armed is the average X-Boat tender? What is its delta-vee? Are there escort vessels assigned to protect the X-Boat tender, as well?

 

[hdan]

Keklas - I like the way you think.

X-Boats as they are can't fly away on their own, so you'd have to tow one away if you wanted to steal it to "chop shop" it or sell it to a non-Imperial polity for their own use.

If you just want to steal the data, you have to fight the crewman to get it, and he can always "press the reset button" and erase the data if he judges that the danger of capture is too high. Plus, the data itself is beamed to the nearest X-boat tender as soon as the X-boat arrives in-system, presumably highly encrypted to thwart eavesdroppers, so unless you manage to get in before the data is beamed out, you'd only be stealing an empty memory bank.

In other words, X-boats just aren't good targets. They're not useful for anything other than their stated purpose. (Recent efforts to design after-market upgrades aside, of course. )

Back on topic: I view the X-boat pilot as an engineer, security expert and navigator. I imagine X-boats have "attitude control" thrusters of some sort so they can align for jump and direct their antennae towards the tender. The X-boat pilot has to have at least some basic piloting skills to work the ship.

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Keklas - I like the way you think.

Thanx! I'm continuing to assume an unmanned X-Boat has just jumped in-system...

X-Boats as they are can't fly away on their own, so you'd have to tow one away if you wanted to steal it to "chop shop" it or sell it to a non-Imperial polity for their own use.

But a belter with a Seeker could likely lash on and tow the X-Boat ... maybe to his home inside a hollowed-out asteroid.

If you just want to steal the data, you have to fight the crewman to get it, and he can always "press the reset button" and erase the data if he judges that the danger of capture is too high. Plus, the data itself is beamed to the nearest X-boat tender as soon as the X-boat arrives in-system, presumably highly encrypted to thwart eavesdroppers, so unless you manage to get in before the data is beamed out, you'd only be stealing an empty memory bank.

Assuming the data has been purged, let's see ... a TL-12+ computer for jumpnav, plus its OS and utilities ... several tera-terabytes of memory modules ... a TL-12+ jump drive, plus lanthanum grid ... a TL-12+ comm system capable of encrypted burst reception and transmission ... can you say, "Black Market"?

And if the thing were manned (or could be manned), there'd be a life-support system to upgrade the one on his Seeker.

In other words, X-boats just aren't good targets.

That depends on what you're looking for. The life-support system alone would be a boon to any person who owns a Seeker or other Scout derivative.

They're not useful for anything other than their stated purpose. (Recent efforts to design after-market upgrades aside, of course. )

Google the phrase "Chop-Shop" to see why a derelict X-Boat would be worth a lot to someone who didn't have to pay for it.

Back on topic: I view the X-boat pilot as an engineer, security expert and navigator. I imagine X-boats have "attitude control" thrusters of some sort so they can align for jump and direct their antennae towards the tender. The X-boat pilot has to have at least some basic piloting skills to work the ship.

Pilot-1, then. Any less would be sufficient for "Press 'SEEK SIG' to align antennae; then press 'CONFIRM' when the green light comes on", or to launch the lifeboat. In fact, having a "Pilot-0" certification would be perfect for X-Boat duty, since it would qualify the person to be the pilot-on-board, and no real piloting would be involved.

 

[kafka47]

Here maybe is a spinoff question...how to X-Boat pilots stay sane? Even if a tour of duty is 1yr (assuming LBB Scouts terms) that would be at least 26 weeks spent in Jump. I could see pilots going a bit batty after a while.

 

[hdan]

Thanx! I'm continuing to assume an unmanned X-Boat has just jumped in-system...

But a belter with a Seeker could likely lash on and tow the X-Boat ... maybe to his home inside a hollowed-out asteroid.

True enough - the Seeker + X-boat could theoretically get 1G if the seeker could align his thrust to pass through the new center of mass.

Assuming the data has been purged, let's see ... a TL-12+ computer for jumpnav, plus its OS and utilities ... several tera-terabytes of memory modules ... a TL-12+ jump drive, plus lanthanum grid ... a TL-12+ comm system capable of encrypted burst reception and transmission ... can you say, "Black Market"?

All things being equal, and X-boat would make a good "chop shop" target, but I don't think X-boats arrive in systems without at least basic system defense boat and tender support. That's what Scout/Couriers are for.

The window of opportunity for stripping down an X-boat is probably not big enough to risk the wrath of the SDBs.

Pilot-1, then. Any less would be sufficient for "Press 'SEEK SIG' to align antennae; then press 'CONFIRM' when the green light comes on", or to launch the lifeboat. In fact, having a "Pilot-0" certification would be perfect for X-Boat duty, since it would qualify the person to be the pilot-on-board, and no real piloting would be involved.

Yep, Pilot-0 sounds about right. And maybe studying up running simulations for their Pilot-1 rating and hopefully a better posting.

Though in the end, X-Boat Pilots don't make a lot of sense, except when you consider Traveller's almost paranoid bias against intelligent self-repairing machines. (I mean really, what could possibly go wrong? :devil

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

All things being equal, and X-boat would make a good "chop shop" target, but I don't think X-boats arrive in systems without at least basic system defense boat and tender support. That's what Scout/Couriers are for.

The window of opportunity for stripping down an X-boat is probably not big enough to risk the wrath of the SDBs.

While an unmanned X-Boat would be the first assumption, a misjump into a system that has no X-Boat facilities would be the second, and a nearby belter who is able to take full advantage of the situation would be the third.

Of course, what make the X-Boat jump drive so desirable is its near-perfect record for arriving where it is supposed to, and very close to the 168-hour time limit. This would make any serendipitous discovery by a belter nearly infinitesimal.

But it could happen ...

 

[aramis]

Here maybe is a spinoff question...how to X-Boat pilots stay sane? Even if a tour of duty is 1yr (assuming LBB Scouts terms) that would be at least 26 weeks spent in Jump. I could see pilots going a bit batty after a while.

it's probably NOT 26 weeks in jump.

Given a 9 day cycle, that's 6-8 days in jump, 0-2 days hanging with the service crew (and possibly 1-6 other X-boat crews) for 4 or 6 jumps, then probably a one or two cycle down time...

4-on 1-off is 45 days long; 8 sets, 32 jumps.
4-on 2-off is 54 days long; 7 sets; 28 jumps
5-on 1-off is 54 days long; 7 sets, 34 jumps
5-on 2-off is 63 days long; 6 sets, 29 jumps
6-on 1-off is 63 days long; 6 sets, 36 jumps
6-on 2-off is 72 days long; 5 sets, 30 jumps

all of these have been used by fishing and, 4-on 2 off by north slope workers.

6 on 2 off was used at Umiat, as well, at the weather station.

People don't stay sane on those schedules, but they do stay functional.

 

[rancke]

All things being equal, and X-boat would make a good "chop shop" target, but I don't think X-boats arrive in systems without at least basic system defense boat and tender support. That's what Scout/Couriers are for.

Any system that an X-boat aims for will have an X-boat Tender at least. To lose an X-boat, there would have to be a misjump (rare or non-existent with properly maintained drives) and for the presense of a crewman aboard to make a difference, the misjump will have to place the X-boat in a situation where there is someone who will steal unmanned ships but not manned ones. Compare that to the cost of employing umpteen[*] thousand pilots, and I really don't think it makes sense as an economy measure.

[*] Anybody have an official figure or a guesstimate on the total number of X-boats in service?​

Though in the end, X-Boat Pilots don't make a lot of sense, except when you consider Traveller's almost paranoid bias against intelligent self-repairing machines. (I mean really, what could possibly go wrong? :devil

I think it's much simpler than that. Budgets and empire-building (the bureaucratic version). Each pilot spot probably represent two ground-based personnel. 10,000 pilots (or whatever the figure may be) means 20,000 administrators, which translates into bigger budgets and more powerful upper managers for the Scout Service.

And ships NEED crew don't they?


Hans

 

[kafka47]

[FONT=arial,helvetica] People don't stay sane on those schedules, but they do stay functional.[/FONT]

My point exactly...I am beginning to formulate a plot. Perhaps, the Imperium does not use Scouts but the brains of either Scouts or maybe even criminals who have been wiped. Mind tapes keep the user occupied but it works on a kind of transference principle. Along the way, someone, tipped the balance - while appearing to be perfectly functional (hence stable) but quite insane...

It could be a submerged memory surfacing. It could be a psychotic episode...

thoughts, suggestions, etc

 

[far-trader]

It's probably NOT 26 weeks in jump...

(snip schedules)

People don't stay sane on those schedules, but they do stay functional.

I've never seen it quite like that. My take has been a jump followed by a rotation aboard the tender, or reassignment. It has the extra staterooms for housing xboat pilots between jumps for that reason imo. Sometimes they rotate off the tender to scout/courier assignments for some variety. No one serves continuously riding the same xboat jump after jump after jump. It is (imo) ABSOLUTELY NOT 26 weeks in jump.

• Xboat jumps in and squirts data
• Waiting Xboat jumps out with data
• Tender grabs Xboat that came in
• Quick maintenance, refuel, and transfer of pilot (and optional rider), and transfer any critical hard cargo
• Xboat is released on schedule to await next data squirt
• (repeat)

...meanwhile the pilot of the arriving Xboat is relaxing on the Tender and being briefed on their new assignment. Either Tender work until their next Xboat seat, transfer to a Type S for Scout/Courier work, or even reassignment elsewhere. The one thing they are not doing is jumping out in an Xboat right away. Usually...

As for security, yes there'd be several Type S nearby at the very least. Enough to discourage random piracy.

 

[hdan]

Any system that an X-boat aims for will have an X-boat Tender at least. To lose an X-boat, there would have to be a misjump (rare or non-existent with properly maintained drives) and for the presense of a crewman aboard to make a difference, the misjump will have to place the X-boat in a situation where there is someone who will steal unmanned ships but not manned ones. Compare that to the cost of employing umpteen[*] thousand pilots, and I really don't think it makes sense as an economy measure.

LOL - OR, a corrupt X-boat pilot, operating around the Imperial fringe, who decides to jump to a J-4 location off his route, where some friends are waiting. They now have a many week head start before the news of the "missing" X-boat catches up with them....

(Always looking for scenario ideas....)

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

LOL - OR...

Roll 1D:

1. A corrupt X-boat pilot, operating around the Imperial fringe, decides to jump to a J-4 location off his route, where some friends are waiting. They now have a many week head start before the news of the "missing" X-boat catches up with them. However, serialized components of the "chopped" X-Boat have begun to appear on the Black Market.

2. A belter arrives in-system with a barely held-together Seeker that seems to have an X-Boat jump drive grafted onto it. Visible markings match those of an X-Boat that went missing several years previously. The belter has some high-quality memory modules for sale, some of which bear Imperial seals.

3. Jumping into a system, the faint echo of an IISS transponder is detected. Even though the signal is faint and intermittent, the signal seems to come from beneath the icy surface of one of the moons orbiting a small gas giant. A salvage operation may be mounted, or the anomaly could be reported at the next port-of-call.

4. As #1, but the body of the X-Boat pilot is found adrift about 100 diameters out from the nearest world. Examination reveals that his neck was broken minutes before being spaced. An inner pocket contains a navigation cartridge labeled with the name of a nearby system that was not the X-Boat's original destination.

5. As #2, but the X-Boat jump drive is grafted onto the foreword portion of a Zhodani scout vessel. The kludge is emitting a distress signal, and the PCs are first on the scene. The cargo (in an unused stateroom) includes illegal psi drugs and anagathics. IMPSEC immediately imposes a quarantine and blackout, and hold the PCs for questioning...

6. As #3, but the vessel is in a decaying orbit around the gas giant. Library data indicated that the body of the vessel's pilot was found adrift in a nearby system. The hull looks intact, and the X-Boat could have valuable property on board. While the PCs are investigating, the hijackers show up to claim their prize.


Enjoy!