Hermes-class Courier ^{(Shipwright: Pizzuto Industries Orbital Yard, Luna)}

The Hermes class is an outgrowth of the Janus-class Runabouts, albeit one missing the entire middeck.  The Higgs Drives and power systems are top of the line, and extended to take up almost the entirety of the lower deck.  The remaining 1/4 of the lower deck now holds the Pilot/Engineer’s quarters.  The Stover Drive systems are also upgraded, now extending two thirds of the way towards the cockpit on the upper deck.  The remaining third of the distance is a cargo hold, capable of being converted to a single-person passenger quarter if needed.  Between this hold and the cockpit are the wirehead’s quarters, the wirehead interface tank, and a small galley. There is no lift system on the Hermes-class, only a series of ladders.
Military Hermes-class couriers are armed with a single fore-mounted light railgun and AI-controlled Pulse Laser System, civilian ones are instead unarmed (aside from the pulse laser system) and come with a basic luxury upgrade.
The Hermes-class sports three Class 1 Higgs Drives standard, affording the craft either great redundancy or ludicrous FTL speeds. Standard operation is to run drive 1, then run drive 2 while letting drive 1 undergo cooldown, retaining drive 3 as a spare. When time is of the essence, all three drives are used, allowing the ship to stay indefinitely at FTL and affording it a mind-bogglingly-fast speed of 3 light years per Terran standard day.
Hermes-class Couriers dealing with Terran Fleets go by different call signs in official communiques depending on their direction in relation to the fleet.  Couriers going outbound to a deployed fleet are referred to as “Mercury X,” where X is the fleet number they are headed to.  Couriers inbound from a deployed fleet to a base are referred to as “Thunderbird X,” where X is the fleet number they are departing from.  Couriers going from one fleet to another are referred to as “Hermes X Y”, where X is the fleet it departs from and Y is its destination fleet.  In any of the previous cases, if the fleet in question is non-terran the number is prepended with an alphabetical code corresponding to the fleet race (T for Tuethidoids, P for Proximans.).  A courier going from base to base is referred to as “Reita Z,” where Z is the base it departed from.  These are only call signs used in communiques however, the vessel names themselves follow no noticeable pattern at all.
Hermes-class vessels are launched as simply “Hermes <Number>,” with the actual name of the ship being chosen by the designated crew of the vessel, who, by tradition, then re-christen the ship.
Select Hermes-class Couriers:
HC00: TASS Hermes [TPS-033] (one of 7 Hermes-class vessels currently assigned to the Sol/Alpha Centauri run)
HC04: TASS Cydonia [TPS-036] (the crew is from Mars)
HC05: TASS Syria Planum [TPS-037] (another crew from Mars)
HC06: TASS Tranquility Base [TPS-038]
HC07: TASS Maple [TPS-039]
HC08: TASS Barracuda [TPS-040]
HC09: TASS Speedfreak [TPS-041]
HC23: SS Northern Excursion [CRP-082] – Owned by MCubed Integration and listed on their assets roster as a ‘high-speed personnel transport’ with dedicated room for 1 passenger, the Northern Excursion also happens to maintain a weapons load-out permit and reportedly has a pseudo-AI in place of a wirehead.  Suspicion abounds that this is actually an SDA vessel registered as a Corporate vessel to avoid attention in its activities.
HC28: TASS Mako [TPS-062]
HC30: SDA Kathleen Kenyon [SDA-076] – The Kathleen Kenyon is used by the SDA as a high-speed personnel transport with dedicated room for 1 passenger.  Like most SDA-registered vessels, it maintains an all-SDA crew.
Cost: 1,500,000 Credits (1,000,000 used)
Availability: Restricted
Colossal Space Transport (Gargantuan for Dogfighting and being targeted by ships larger than Colossal [Frigate] size)
Initiative +X
Senses: Perception +X
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Defenses
Reflex XX = 10 + 4 (DEX) + 12 (Armor Or Heroic Level) – 10 (Size) [flat-footed XX = 10 + 12 (Armor Or Heroic Level) – 10 (Size)
Fortitude 33 = 10 + 23 (STR)
+12 armor
HP 120/120
DR 15
SR 40/40
Damage Threshold 83 (Fort Defense + Size Mod [50])
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Speed: Fly 12 squares (max velocity 2,200 km/h), Fly 5 squares (starship scale)
Fighting Space: 12×12 or 1 square (starship scale)
Cover: Total (crew)
Grapple +XX = X (BaseATK) + 23 (STR) + 20 (Size)
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Abilities: Strength 56, Dexterity 18, Constitution -, Intelligence 16
Skills: Initiative +X, Mechanics +X, Pilot +X, Use Computer +X
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Crew 2 (Pilot/Engineer, Wirehead/Systems Operator)
AI: 1 Class VI for Weapons Operation, 1 Class III Maintenance AI
Cargo: 5 Tons, or 1 Passenger and 1 Ton
Consumables: 1 month
FTL Drives: Class 1 [Higgs], Class 1 [Higgs], Class 1 [Higgs] (In Function: Use all 3 drives – operate as if a class 0.33 Drive, Use 2 drives – operate as a class 0.66 Drive, Use 1 drive – Operate as a class 1 Drive), Class 4 [Higgs] (Backup)
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AI Controlled Pulse Laser Array: attack +7 (+2 Autofire), damage 5d10x2
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