The Pack Mule
The Pack Mule is the result of a passion project from a pair of shipbuilders on Bellator, who wanted to try their hand at making a civilian starship as opposed to the battleships that they were usually contracted to build. The result is a sturdy vessel ostensibly designed for mundane, more peaceful pursuits, that can nonetheless endure the chaos of a frenzied war zone. How it ended up in the New Imperium’s public rental starship service is quite the tale, involving the machinations of a self-proclaimed techno-witch, a rogue agent of Aevum’s Temporal Guard, the favorite necklace of a prominent mikesu television personality, and a narrowly-averted war between Bellator and the Nebulon Republics over a misplaced bottle of champagne.
The Pack Mule’s main body is a well-armored rectangular prism with a wedge-shaped bow, taking obvious design cues from Bellatoran dreadnaughts (on those vessels, the bow is reinforced to incentivize ramming into enemy ships- preferably at top speed). The bridge sits atop this prism, in front of the main engine and two enormous thrusters that branch out from either side of it on rotating blocks. A pair of smaller thrusters, also rotating, are located under the Pack Mule’s bow. The ship has no weapons, though it does possess a supply of decoy buoys that can be launched to hopefully confound any potential attackers. Additionally, our heroes have installed an energy shield module into the Pack Mule for further protection, and its armor is also quite durable. The ship’s makers once proclaimed that it could plow through a moon and come out without even a scratch on its black paint, though no-one has tested that claim yet.
Most of the Pack Mule’s interior is dedicated to cargo space. The main hold can be accessed through hatches on either side of the ship, which also serve as the primary ingress and egress points. Personal quarters can be found aftward, beneath the bridge. The ship also has a supply of basic medical kits, tools, and spare parts.