Hmmm...
2014 - After two years of relying on Hephaestus and Gnarlycurl for the majority of their aerospace solutions, Benjamin Rhodes establishes Black Aeronaut Technologies, LLC. The primary vision and goal of BAT is to provide the more discerning spacers amongst the fen with superior ships and craft (and in the process, supplement the military budget of the Roughriders). In a bold move, Benjamin also announced that all BAT designs are open source, however he also states, "But good luck getting them to be anywhere near our build quality." This proves not to be a boast as BAT's initial offerings of F-EZigs, Blackbird-, Peacemaker-, and Albatross-class ships prove to be more hardy and reliable than any of their competition. Soon enough, only BAT builds of their signature ships, the Blackbird and Peacemaker, can be found on the market.
2016 - With most of the SMOF contingent steadily fading into the background noise, Benjamin suddenly finds himself as Fenspace's most visible SMOF in all of Fenspace. This immediately places him in the hotseat as the second wave of the Occupy Movement comes up out of the gravity well. After Ben has the protesters sent back home in automated BAT-marked container ships, the passengers hack the controls and begin move on to other Fen settlements to further their Movement. Ben mishandles the situation slightly by having Gina and the A-Team intercept and forcibly redirect the container ships to Earth once more and the media has a field day with the matter. Only a timely assist by Noah hiring a crack-legal team keeps Ben from being tarred and feathered. However, this was only the first of such political disasters to come.
BAT models introduced at that time:
BAT models introduced at that time:
I'll finish the rest later. For now, though, I need sleep and feedback. I understand that we don't want FS as a whole going down the path of angst, but on the other hand Benjamin and the Roughriders are too prime of a target for anyone that wants to make a power grab of some sort. They present an impendiment, but one that can be eliminated with ease through political maneuvering alone. However, the other SMOFs don't really like what happened and with Maico's help they investigate the matter thoroughly.
From here, I figure we can do one of two things: 1) Ben and the Roughriders are fully cleared and are welcomed back by the Convention with open arms... or 2) Ben and the Roughriders are cleared of all wrongdoing... but Ben is warned not to reinstate his organization, the Convention feeling that less of a military presence is for the better and will set minds at ease. Ben pretty much tells the Convention where they can stick it and goes off to do his own thing with whoever is willing to follow.
Either way, the Convention loses a major military asset and this can open the doors for a new conflict to arise... all, I think, less 'Slow Heat Death of the Universe Angst' and more 'Chiding Warning from Aesop'.
2014 - After two years of relying on Hephaestus and Gnarlycurl for the majority of their aerospace solutions, Benjamin Rhodes establishes Black Aeronaut Technologies, LLC. The primary vision and goal of BAT is to provide the more discerning spacers amongst the fen with superior ships and craft (and in the process, supplement the military budget of the Roughriders). In a bold move, Benjamin also announced that all BAT designs are open source, however he also states, "But good luck getting them to be anywhere near our build quality." This proves not to be a boast as BAT's initial offerings of F-EZigs, Blackbird-, Peacemaker-, and Albatross-class ships prove to be more hardy and reliable than any of their competition. Soon enough, only BAT builds of their signature ships, the Blackbird and Peacemaker, can be found on the market.
2016 - With most of the SMOF contingent steadily fading into the background noise, Benjamin suddenly finds himself as Fenspace's most visible SMOF in all of Fenspace. This immediately places him in the hotseat as the second wave of the Occupy Movement comes up out of the gravity well. After Ben has the protesters sent back home in automated BAT-marked container ships, the passengers hack the controls and begin move on to other Fen settlements to further their Movement. Ben mishandles the situation slightly by having Gina and the A-Team intercept and forcibly redirect the container ships to Earth once more and the media has a field day with the matter. Only a timely assist by Noah hiring a crack-legal team keeps Ben from being tarred and feathered. However, this was only the first of such political disasters to come.
BAT models introduced at that time:
Valkyrie-class: All sub-models (VF-1A, VF-1D, and VF-1J) are made available, save for the VF-1S sub-model which is saved for the Roughrider's exclusive use.
Lancer-class: Based on the B-1B Lancer, this ship had a particularly problematic development process (with a first prototype being scrapped completely - the little known Hustler-class with only two prototypes ever built) and proved to be expensive and maintenance intensive. However, it does meet with some limited success despite its setbacks and has earned a place of infamy as the only ship larger than a Blackbird-class that can go just as fast.
- TIE-class: Based on the easily recognizable space fighter from Star Wars, the TIE-class is an economical option to the much more expensive Valkyrie Veritechs. Based around a fully modular design, all parts for all variants are completely interchangeable. Most can even be used on either side of the craft. This has led to some pilots flying TIEs that look more like Imperial refugees with kitbashed TIE Fighters.
BAT models introduced at that time:
Warthog-class: The one that Ben hired Thomas Dobbs onto the design team for. Being a highly decorated veteran of more than a few conflicts, Ben knew he was exactly the man to go to in order to breath new life into the old airframe. While the design was mostly sound, Tom found the 30mm Avenger cannon to be wanting, what with the standard armor that the civilians use in their day-to-day vehicles. His solution, simple and eloquent, can be summed up in two words: More Gun. In this case, the 30mm gattling gun is replaced by a 107mm coil gun. By far, this proves to be the largest caliber weapon employed by any craft in the SS classification or smaller, and few targets prove to be worthy of a second round from these beastly things. But Ben played it safe and gave them a magazine with room for five rounds.
- Outlaw-class: Ben knew that a true workhorse was lacking in the stables of BAT, so he remedied that by bringing this high-performance grappling ship into the picture. It has the key distinction of being the fastest transiting construction ship, not to mention the most use outside its originally intended purpose.
- Astroliner-class: This magnificent study in Art-Deco-meets-aeronautics is based heavily on the Airliner No. 4 design by Norman Bel Geddes. Massive and decadently appointed, these luxury liners of the stars (and not the Hollywood variety) are being snapped up faster than they can come off the factory line. Notable buyers are KLM, ANA, South Korean Airlines, British Airways, and Virgin Galactic. Benjamin is known to have kept the prototype for himself, and Noah made certain he was first in line to claim the first production model (with Padraigh O'Niel second, of course). Oddly enough, they seem to be actively inspiring a revitalization of the Art Deco movement.
I'll finish the rest later. For now, though, I need sleep and feedback. I understand that we don't want FS as a whole going down the path of angst, but on the other hand Benjamin and the Roughriders are too prime of a target for anyone that wants to make a power grab of some sort. They present an impendiment, but one that can be eliminated with ease through political maneuvering alone. However, the other SMOFs don't really like what happened and with Maico's help they investigate the matter thoroughly.
From here, I figure we can do one of two things: 1) Ben and the Roughriders are fully cleared and are welcomed back by the Convention with open arms... or 2) Ben and the Roughriders are cleared of all wrongdoing... but Ben is warned not to reinstate his organization, the Convention feeling that less of a military presence is for the better and will set minds at ease. Ben pretty much tells the Convention where they can stick it and goes off to do his own thing with whoever is willing to follow.
Either way, the Convention loses a major military asset and this can open the doors for a new conflict to arise... all, I think, less 'Slow Heat Death of the Universe Angst' and more 'Chiding Warning from Aesop'.