Name: Maiden of Golgenna

Class: Heavily modified Pro Patria-class sprint freighter

Type: Rogue Trader vessel/converted sprint freighter

Commissioned: 401.M40, Poculum Yards, Esotericum Minor, Ixaniad Sector

Displacement: 600k tonnes (typical), 800k tonnes (maximum)

Deadweight tonnage: 200k tonnes (internally) + 3m tonnes (in six cargo spheres)

Length: 620 m (main hull), 750 m ( from forward auspex spires to aft plasma baffles)

Beam: 160 m, 250 m (with cargo spheres)

Draught: 220 m, 260 m (with observation spire and astropathic array)

Crew: Varies with configuration, 200 (skeleton crew), 400-500 (free trader configuration), ca. 1000 (long-range exploration) 2000+ (typical Rogue Trader loadout), 4000-6000 (full privateering configuration, w/variable number of extra naval armsmen).

Accel: 5G/0G (sustainable), 30G/1G (max), 50G/2G (emergency)

Void shields: Triplex.

Armour: All except prow (light), prow (medium).

Main armament: Lathes pattern demi-lance, forward flight axis x2

Secondary armament: Light destroyer-type batteries, port x1/starboard x1

Turrets: Evolved defensive grid, full coverage x3

Ordnance: Torpedo tube (removed), forward hemisphere x1

Small craft: Varies with configuration.

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Service history: The Pro Patria-class sprint was (and still is) a fairly common pattern of smaller freighters IN Ixaniadsector, operated primarily by the various noble houses that dominate commerce in that sector. What is special about the Pro class is the six detachable cargo spheres. These spheres constitute the ship's main holds. When a Pro vessel arrive in the destination system it will drop the spheres and leave it to in-system barges to haul them to their destination. At the same time the Pro will pick up new spheres and make ready to translate again. This arrangement requires to Pro to operate within a trade network, such as the noble networks down in Ixaniad. When it works it makes for very fast, very flexible transportation. Outside an established network of jump points, barges and freight handles the Pro is just another, perhaps somewhat awkward, sprint trader.

The Maiden began it's service in the Ixianad Sector 1500 years ago as such a common freighter. Around 300.M41 the Maiden was languishing around backwater routes in Calixis, old and worn and in need of much work. It was eventually purchased by a Rogue Trader returning from a disastrous expedition into the Koronus Expanse. He used what funds remained to him to purchase and refit the Maiden, optimizing her for long trips into the unknown and decent firepower, while still retaining her capacity for cargo carrying. The refits were done by the Lathes Mechanicus and included major upgrades to things like energy production, realspace propulsion, shielding - and two demi-lances for offensive firepower.

The Rogue Trader died while the Maiden was still being refitted. His charts of the Expanse was not recovered by his heir (there were rumors of assassination and theft), and during the following centuries the Maiden followed a less adventurous course, mainly engaging in exploratory trade on the fringes of Calixis, Ixianad and Scarus sectors. The ship visited more than 200 different worlds in less than 400 years, earning a pleasant profit in the process, but nothing like what she could have delivered. But her owners were content to do a little trade and then wast away their days on the Quaddis family estate or in this court or that.

Following a commission with the Imperial Navy down in Gothic sector a young officer is summoned to the Chancellery Court. His father has passed away five years ago, and his six elder brothers have arranged for each others assassinations, making him heir to the Warrant of Trade, the Maiden and the family assets. The year is 806.M41 and Captain Simeon assumes command of the Maiden. He immediately liquidates his remaining assets, save a few things like the Quaddis estate, and gives the Maiden a long-overdue refit. When the money runs out he is forced to borrow heavily.

This in turn forces him to seek his fortunes beyond the Maw. It goes poorly at first, but at third attempt he strikes gold, and returns laden with treasure. He clears his debts and is still a wealthy man. But instead of retiring early he goes out again and again and again. He's been infected - with a desire to explore. Never does he strike the mother-lode again, but that's not the point anymore - he just wants to go places and see things no man has witnessed before.

He eventually marries a woman he falls madly in love during one of his expeditions. He takes her with him back to Quaddis. She gives him a son - Corben (b. 922.M21) - but dies in childbirth. The father is sick with grief, but at least he has his son. He leaves the Expanse behind forever, going into retirement on Quaddis for a while. When the boy is a little bigger the father takes him with him to learn the ropes. But they remain in Calixis, never going very far for very long, for the boy doesn't really take to space well. Try as he might he can't make a proper voidsman out of a Rogue Trader's son. So he takes to leaving his son on Quaddis and going on longer and longer trips again (though never again beyond the Maw).

When Simeon dies 985.M41 Corben is forced to become captain. His father's will has a provision - either Corben captains the Maiden as Master and Commander or he loses everything. Well Corben takes the challenge and fails abysmally - in a decade he's wasted his fortune on foolish trade ventures, gambling, women and other (darker) voices. The Maiden itself is undermanned and ill-maintained. The captain's health deteriorates. And he grows more and more paranoid...until the day the Inquisition sets foot on his vessel 7.142.996.M41...

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Appearance and layout: The Maiden was built in accordance with the hallowed STC templates that make up the basis of almost all Imperial technology. As such she has a 'box-like' appearance, following the relatively common Imperial 4/3/1 layout standard (meaning that the primary hull is roughly four times as long as it is wide and three times as long as it is high). The hull bulges a little at the middle, so that when viewed from directly ahead the Maiden has a slight trapezoid shape.

The lower forward hull contains the primary auspex cluster, stretching up to 60 meters forward of the main hull, in what looks like a forests of masts, pylons, dishes, globes and other arrays. The rear of the vessel is dominated by the seven main and four auxiliary plasma baffles (responsible for final vectoring of realspace drive thrust), which adds another 70 meters of length to the vessel.

An observation spire (another modification, added by Captain Simeon during the latest refit) towers some 15 meters over the main hull, located about 2/3 the way towards the bow. The long-range astropathic array unit is located further to the rear, about 1/3 the way towards the bow, right below the main power torus and the warp drive section, stretching 30 or so meters down from the ship's keel.  The main Geller counters, mass shadow scanners, warp drift meters and other Empyrean-related instruments are emplaced into shorter stub 'wings' that protrude to port and starboard. Redundancy systems are scattered throughout the hull to provide backup functions in case the primaries are knocked out (seeing as how they are vital to the operation of any voidship).

The bow of the ship has the typical flared beak of Imperial warships - this is an addition that provides the primary auspex pylons with some lateral protection (the are partially covered by the beak - civilian ships lack this protection) while also providing the primary hull with significantly better forward quarter armour protection. This is of additional importance to the Maiden, whose primary flight deck is located in the forward-upper part of the ship.

The primary hull is some 620 x 160 x 220 = 2.2 million cubic meters (approximately). The docking slots for the cargo spheres subtract about 1.5 million cubic meters from this volume, but add around 3.2 million, for a total internal volume of 3.7 million cubic meters (not counting the bow section or the plasma baffles). Internal cargo space is somewhat limited on the Maiden following its conversion from freighter to Rogue Trader. Much of the interior space has been filled up with additional components and the extra stores associated with them. Weapons, shields, that sort of thing. An extra-large solar generator and more powerful plasma-pulse generators. Plus the million and one things a Rogue Trader might need that a cargo ship does not. Only about 200k tonnes of capacity remains, divided between a number of smaller holds and a few larger ones.

The lower decks are primarily dedicated to cargo handling and storage. A massive cargo spine (a big-ass tunnel with it's own flatbed monorail train)  runs down the length of the main hull, with intersecting corridors connecting to the cargo spheres. There is a multitude of cargo lifts, cranes, elevators, storage chambers etc. connected to these main transport arteries. In the Maiden's case the cargo spine stops well short of the bow, terminating against the large torpedo launcher (removed by Corben) that isn't standard in a Pro Patria. The rest of the lower bow section, basically the former lower forward holds, are taken up by the two demi-lances (weapons more at home on a frigate or light cruiser) that constitutes the Maiden's primary anti-ship armament. Further aft much of the internal space is taken up by the addition of two (only one remains in use) large small-craft launch bays and their associated hangars, workshops, storage cells and fuel depots. The launch bays are also non-standard; the Pro Patria isn't supposed to need a lot of small craft and has only one smaller launch bay, but as a Rogue Trader it was felt that the Maiden had other needs.

The entire aft third of the Maiden is dedicated to the production and use of energy. Deep withing the hull lies the massive fusion torus that is the heart of the solar generator array. Attached to the fusion torus are the plasma-pulse generators that generate the shuperheated and superaccelerated plasma jets that are directed out through the plasma baffles to provide the ships with thrust. Surrounding it all is a bewildering array of rooms, corridors, generators, pipes, cables, stores, and whatnot that are involved in the production and distribution of power to all voidships systems - ranging from life support, cogitation, communication, active auspec matrixes, artificial gravity, acceleration compensation, inertial dampening, void shielding, Geller field generation, weapon  energy banks,  and so on.  On top of all this (but still well within the protective embrace of the hull) sits the primary enginarium control room, which is connected to the rest of the ship by the upper spine corridor. From here most ship's functions can be controlled by a trained tech-priest. Indeed, in an emergency the control room can act as a reserve bridge.

Forward of the plasma torus, deep inside the ship, lies the main utility hubs. The number of utility functions needed aboard a voidship are staggering;  from plumbing to internal heating and lighting, cables and pipes of all sorts; it all comes together and connects here. Massive tanks store fresh water suitable for drinking. Others hold waste water and sewage for reclamation. The same with oxygen and other substances needed to sustain human life. This area is also home to the ship's main cogitator arrays and datavaults, the auxiliary bridge (not in use), and the main armoury. The utility section is easily accessible from both above and below - important for both operation, maintenance and resupply of internal systems. For example, above the utilities and forward for the enginarium one finds the ship's main internal storage areas - this is were extra supplies for long-range missions go.

Even further down along the main dorsal spine, just forward of the utility section, lies the primary living areas, accesible by going down the central access shaft (which is really a collection of elevators, plus a large spiral staircase). You can also take the elevator up to the observation dome from here. In its heyday the Maiden could house 4000-5000 people in relative comfort inside. That was a long time ago, and many areas now lie silent and dark, some even stripped of equipment and furnishings. But the rooms and corridors and halls and other spaces are still there, large enough to get lost in if you don't know you way around the ship. There be sleeping chambers, communal areas for different types of crew, gymnasiums, mess halls, the works. Medical facilities and the brig are also here. All this space had to come from somewhere - most of it were taken from internal forward holds.

At the end of the spine corridor, near the bow of the vessel, lies  the command section. The command section houses things ranging from the main bridge, itself and the Navigator sanctum sitting over it, to auxiliary rooms such as the captain's ready room, planning rooms, astropath relay stations, to more technical stuff such as the secondary cogitators arrays, and auxiliary controls for many ship's systems. The original Pro Patria design also has the ship's sole launch bay situated in the bow, forward-facing, but in the Maiden that's not the case (sort of hard to launch small craft through the bow armour, no?). When the ship explored the Expanse this area was used by attending tech--priests engaged in dangerous scientific studies, but now the space lies dormant and unused.

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Command and control: Main bridge is located in the forward-upper part of the ship. The Navigator sanctum sits directly above the bridge. Below the bridge are located the auxiliary cogitator arrays and datavaults. A secondary bridge is located in the ship's central utility area. The enginarium can also function as an emergency bridge.

Like all Imperial ships the Maiden is neither fully automated nor completely networked. A certain number of skilled voidsmen, unskilled laborers and servitors are required to operate the ship's systems. This is a design feature and universally accepted as the way things are. To acheive a greater degree of networking, or even to operate the more advanced systems, requires the presence of tech-priests. Tech-priests act as communications hubs and security filters - without them the Maiden's sub-systems are largely isolated.

The Maiden is also home to an Abominable Intelligence. Before her discovery and submission to the Inquisition she had done a fair deal of work intergrating the ship's systems, as well as adding some additional internal surveilance systems. Where that didn't suffice she had forcibly implanted key crewmembers with MIU units and reprogramed them to be loyal to her. She continues to employ a number of such servants, but is forbidden from making any more or work towards further integration.

Power: The Maiden has a non-standard archaotech Jovian-pattern energy core. It was installed in the distant past when the Maiden was first turned into a Rogue Trader (but is actually far older than that, having been salvaged from another vessel). It has served faithfully ever since. Which is extremely fortunate since there are few, if any, Tech-priests in Calixis that can repair it should that ever be required.

Propulsion (void): The Maiden has a very powerful void propulsion system, installed at the same time as the energy core to take advantage of the great solar energies generated within. The propulsion system terminates in seven primary and four auxiliary plasma baffles. The plasma drives require reaction mass to operate, but the amount is much less than would otherwise be the case due to inertial compensation. The Maiden usually carries about 200k tonnes of suitable reaction mass, enough for several long realspace hauls before refueling (the Maiden used to carry generators to crack new fuel, essential for longer journeys, but that is not longer the case).

The Maiden has a cruising acceleration of 5G and a maximum practical realspace velocity around .3C. Max sustainable accel is 30 G (1G perceived); at this level any course change requires crew and equipment to be locked down to prevent injury and damage. Reaction mass consumption is very inefficient at this level. Max accel is in excess of 50G (2G perceived); it is only used for emergency evasive maneuvers since it puts very great strain on all ship's systems. Reaction mass consumption becomes increasingly inefficient at these acceleration levels.

Propulsion (warp): The Maiden still has her Esotericum-pattern original warp drive. These drives have a deserved repotation as being fast and - above all - reliable. Lovingly maintained over the centuries by a small clan (now extinct) of Ixianad-trained tech-adepts, the drive is now in desperate need of attention.

As with all voidships the Maiden is completely dependent on working warp-field generators to create the unreality effects required for acceleration compensation, inertial dampening and void shield

Life support: Artificial gravity in most areas. Accel compensation.

Defensive systems: Very light armour (bow is lightly armoured). Very good multi-layered void shields (made possible by the enhanced power core). Good ECM.

Armament: The Maiden's primary armament is two internally-mounted Lathes-patter demi-lances. The weapons are housed in the lower forward port and starboard main internal cargo holds. The weapons fire forward through firing ports in the prow. This severely limits the weapons firing arc, but means the weapons are very well protected - and almost impossible for enemy ships to detect before they fire (and the Maiden's relative agility helps mitigate targeting issues).

Cargo:

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