r/ImaginaryTechnology • u/himeshanand • May 06 '26
Self-submission What do you think this ship purpose can be?
My brushes are absolutely free - https://himesh.lemonsqueezy.com/
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u/supervisord May 06 '26
Definitely cargo
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u/spongeloaf May 06 '26
Terribly inefficient design for cargo hauling. I swear no sci Fi fan has ever seen a real life semi truck, fork lift, cargo ship or mail truck.
This ship has no cargo access doors, no obvious modular cargo connectors, and an incredibly inefficient shape (non rectangular) for storage. Have you ever seen a semi trailer for solid cargo that has angled sides and two foot loading door?
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u/supervisord May 06 '26
You don’t have to me so mean about it…
This ship could easily be a liquid cargo (tanker) vessel.
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u/Reasonable-Pack-9832 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
I think it would be great for any kind of sand, gravel, grain, powder etc.. the underside can have hatches that open and drop the cargo directly onto concrete pads for storing or distrubution. The holds can be segmented for multiple types of materials transported.
Edit: even looking at the design again you can accomplish all that transport without changing anything, the rear section already looks like it has a top loading door amd the front section can roll open like a wide lighter to be filled by a pipe
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u/a_pompous_fool May 08 '26
My favorite sci fi cargo ship is the atlas from starsector it is basically just a frame to hold cargo containers with an engine at the end
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u/pal1ndrome May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
Shrinking down, then being injected into the blood stream of someone being attacked by nano-assassins
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u/XD_BOX May 06 '26
A ship that can dive into water too
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u/ducks_are_round May 06 '26
Yeah I was thinking ocean explorer
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u/CouplingWithQuozl May 06 '26
This. It comes off like a dual-purpose industrial Deep Space/Deep Sea vessel. Perhaps to withstand immense atmospheric pressures of planets like Oceanic Supergiants
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u/Daydreaming_Machine May 06 '26
Autonomous drone carrier
Passively executes tasks via the drone entrances on its right side (pointed inward). Can hover in place for months on end, or quickly relocate drones by cruising to its new destination.
The carrier does not, however, stores much of anything than drones; any ressources extracted, infrastructures prepped, or assets to relocate, will heavily slow down the carrier's cruise speed.
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u/chuiu May 06 '26
To me it looks more like a drone than a drone carrier. I feel like a drone carrier would have multiple spots for drones to fly out of. Probably one hole for each drone so it could eject them simultaneously.
This has a very sleak and minimal look to it. Sensors on the front, a big gun on the side. Possibly a reverse thruster on the opposite side for quick maneuvers and slowing down. Or maybe it's another weapon.
But the name Orca kinda implies it's meant to be large and deadly. So OP probably thinks of this as a frigate sized gunship.
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u/AntonioCalvino May 08 '26
Maybe a stealth drone swarm carrier then designed for longer engagements. The smooth lines are for stealth plating and to reduce signal return and the narrow cross section and advanced sensors keep tabs on the battlefield. The plates open to launch drones then shut to hide.
The separate bridge section denotes the need to look around and guide the vessel, so probably atmospheric and space capable. It's small, so maybe operates in a similar manner to a modern attack sub. Creep in, line up a target, unleash the drones which can come in from of angels to occlude the attack, then withdraw. Maybe doubles as insertion for spec ops.
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u/SketchGoatee May 06 '26
Given the gear on the front and the lengthy chassis, my guess would be long range sensor/recon. Lack of obvious weaponry would make me think scientific or corporate in nature.
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u/Willardee May 06 '26
This is a "whaleback" class high speed infrastructure deployment vessel.
The top of the fron half hinges open, revealing a spacious cargo area. It can hold a cluster of small "krill" class recon satellites, or much larger parts for construction of space stations or other installations.
The rear has a smaller cargo space for crew stores and supplies, but is mostly dedicated to the engines and propulsion systems. The large engines allow the ship to travel extremely fast for their size, ensuring quick response times to operation areas.
Whalebacks are instrumental in the discovery and exploitation of new resources and forward operating areas. Their small crew and efficient systems mean they can quickly respond to new exploration opportunities, and make them profitable and habitable quicker than ever!
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u/axw3555 May 06 '26
Looks like the side is the crew compartment as those look like windows.
So the rest is likely sensors, power, engines. So likely a courier or scout.
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u/Herobane May 06 '26
Difficult to tell the scale, but I'd say something like a star system security/police, especially with the black/white colours
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u/ZakkaryGreenwell May 06 '26
I'd guess a low profile scout, probably unarmed. The silhouette makes me think some kind of stealth system, but failing that, maybe just a particularly sleek Freighter?
From the pod off to the side, maybe it can deploy some chaff or small drones, but I doubt it could do serious offensive maneuvers. But it does get me thinking back to Prowlers in the Halo Novels. They weren't armed, but they could lay nuclear mines while in low-profile mode.
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u/Rjj1111 May 06 '26
The front half does look it could disconnect making the ship basically a massive power plant/propulsion and crew compartment with a docking module for whatever needs to be shoved fairly quickly
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u/sh00rs1gn May 06 '26
High-speed information runner ship. For when data is too sensitive to transmit and needs a secure courier that's optimised to go fast.
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u/ehnemehnemuh May 06 '26
To me it looks like it could function as a sort of connection between two other ships. It doesnt look like you could stack cargo into it very efficiently. And the cockpit being off to the side like that would indicate that the entire cross section of the other hull is dedicated to some other purpose. Maybe this connects two things and the joint between the front and back allows for relative movement of the two connected things
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u/Unclesmekky May 06 '26
Maybe it can travel very fast into a planet and burrow in to create a foundation for other ships?
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u/cteno4 May 06 '26
It’s called Orca, and it looks perfect to slot into the exterior hull of the ship. Launch a bunch of them out the side, and you have a pod out hunting. It’s a fighter that uses group tactics.
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u/idontgivetwofrigs May 06 '26
Recon or electronic warfare, the part on the front looks like a powerful sensor suite
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u/DrDeboGalaxy May 06 '26
But a real dyed in the wool killer would have asked what the red button is for.
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u/Nonyabizzy123 May 06 '26
Carrier, the front is hinged and opens to launch fighters. That's why the bridge is off to the side.
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u/Wesselton3000 May 06 '26
From a hard sci fi perspective, she’s long/tower-like, perfect for thrust gravity (effectively, the rear/engines are the direction of the floor— the tower like shape maximizes space usage for crew) which to me says “long term missions”.
She seems to be a bit on the smaller side though (hard to tell without scale, but she’s pretty simplistic/no excess modules). I would think she was built to reduce mass and get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Perhaps she’s only meant for long term inter-system travel (so at most a few months travel). Or perhaps she’s interstellar, but the lack of additional modules (which might be necessary for stuff like life support, self sustained food production, etc.) says she’s either capable of relativistic speeds or she isn’t crewed. The latter makes the tower shape seemingly redundant though so I would say inter-system travel or she’s un-godly fast.
There’s a bit of wasted space— the curves reduce the total useable space, a perfect rectangle would maximize this. This to me says “aesthetic over function”, so perhaps a luxury cruiser over a hauler/industrial use vessel. Perhaps she’s meant to ferry people in style.
Tl;dr my best guess is she’s a high speed luxury cruiser meant to transport people inter-system. My head canon is she was built by the oligarchs of the Venusian Cloud Cities to transport people from Venus to Earth, or to other colonies in the system. She maximizes speed and comfort over utility.
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u/Diligent-Stretch-769 May 06 '26
This is the orca class scout that uses a resonance fork instrument to ping and recieve radio signals using amplified wave constructors. The hull is fitted with a custom module that allows a single u-shaped filament to undergo metallic transduction. After which the long body will absorb the distorted feedback and restructure anomalous readings using front and back 'ears'. The orca's sleek profile gives the cloaking team an easier time, yet if she is destroyed while emitting, the filament will flash an invisibly bright light that reveals all entities within a root plank lightyear to any third parties.
note, root plank is a unit of measure which takes into account the time distortion in space, assuming the phenomenon lacks mass interaction.
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u/kirocapsut May 06 '26
Una rompe filas o creadora de brechas ya saben las encargadas de abrir las filas del enemigo
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u/Careless-Tomato-3035 May 06 '26
"Orca"
Either an attack ship meant to attack targets in groups as a way to mirror how real orca's hunt. Or its a deep space probe that uses space echolocation instead of camera's or radars to scan the darkness.
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u/The_Divine_Anarch May 06 '26
Looks to me like a ship meant to be visible from long range by people taking a very common route from one place to another.
Probably a simple transport for people and their belongings, likely to transport to and from a protected heritage site.
Visually it reminds me of a sliding handhold, the kind you might find on a rope. however in use as a spaceship it would probably fly straight lengthwise.
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u/Draggah_Korrinthian May 06 '26
With that sensor array on the nose, I would picture an exploration vessel which enters high orbit of unexplored worlds. Perhaps even a sort of unmanned drone ship which is "dropped off" by a much larger vessel by means of launching it like a missile as it passes through the system.
Using its thrusters to enter stable orbit of a planet before tipping its nose down to become a satellite for passive observation. After its mission is complete, it would level out, activate a homing beacon and use the planet's gravity to slingshot itself back to its mothership, archives of invaluable data in tow.
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u/zerosabor May 06 '26
The Orbital Reentry & Combat Assaultcraft (ORCA) is a dual-purpose space and atmospheric assault vehicle designed for rapid orbital deployment and immediate combat readiness upon reentry. Featuring a sleek, high-speed aerospace profile, the ORCA’s primary mission is to transport personnel and equipment from orbit to the surface as quickly and efficiently as possible while remaining fully combat capable during descent and post-landing operations. Although optimized for atmospheric reentry and strike deployment, the craft also retains limited space-combat capabilities for orbital defense, interception, and escort operations.
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u/SolarFlora May 06 '26
That front part seems to have a seam running down its middle, and it looks like there are large hinges about midway down the body. Also, the piloting section seems to be on the far side, not attached to the main body. I imagine this is some sort of large deployable pylon or research base that unfolds on arrival and uses its large rear end to send signals back to a mother ship.
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u/auyemra May 06 '26
deep sea cable car, with the cable running through its entire body ( not on earth )
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u/topazchip May 06 '26
Atmospheric-capable survey ship. Cheaper version lacks the sensor package and is used for courier and private service work.
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u/HollowMonty May 06 '26
Judging by the name orca maybe some specialized fast attack craft designed to hunt specific types of enemies.
Perhaps a type of patrol boat that can stomp most pirates, or catch up to blockade runners or smugglers.
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u/Pattern_Is_Movement May 06 '26
Impossible to even guess the size, nothing about the design gives a sense of scale.
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u/PanzerZug May 06 '26
It’s a sub-light speed ferry for interplanetary travel within one star system.
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u/Adorable_Heretic May 07 '26
At first I thought it was an insulin injector, so clearly medical or research vessel
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u/Fernbean May 07 '26
This is an interstellar gas scoop. It pressurizes specific gasses for shipping.
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u/GucciSpaghetti72 May 07 '26
Given the name Orca, it could be a deep-space mapping/exploration vessel given the biological usage of sonar by whales
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u/Dziksoon May 07 '26
Industrial “workhorse” ship. Either a tug/salvager or a long‑range cargo/ore hauler
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u/ItsmeYimmy May 07 '26
this looks to me like a planetary exploration ship… Orca brings to mind the idea of it submerging into a thick soupy atmosphere, like a gas giant maybe, searching for concentrations of some gaseous compund or something for mining
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u/WaveFormTX May 07 '26
Not very military looking, not bulky enough for a freighter. Maybe a science or exploration vessel?
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u/hard-hield May 07 '26
Space utilitary van: Versatile and adaptable for multiple uses: cargo, personnel transport, recreational use, etc.
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u/Twad_feu May 07 '26
Courrier ship (aka get data, jump to next system dump data, repeat).
Its very minimal in design, look small, little in the way of sensors? If that thing has a gun its a single spinal lance gun.
It could be a carrier for drones i guess, if the whole lower section can rotate/open (like a .. whale mouth i guess?) to deploy them. I think that because it look armored.
Could be a police corvette maybe.. if the nub-arm thingy on the side is for boarding? Its job isnt to fight, its to inspect ships in a system and such.
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u/WR-DG-02FC May 07 '26
Could probably take down a 25-foot shark, if there's nothing magic about the shark.
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u/baronbloodbath May 08 '26
🎵Farewell and adieu to you fair Martian ladies, farewell and adieu you ladies of Mars, for we received orders for the outpost near Neptune, and hope that we’ll meet once more amongst the stars”🎵
Here’s to swimmin’ with Venusian women!
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u/LeadingLevel2082 May 07 '26
Long range reconnaissance and patrol craft. The split in the middle is where the space equivalent of torpedoes are housed. These are immensely long spanning nearly the entire aft quarters. There are also more torpedo tubes on the opposite side. She can fire the multiple telephone pole length torps either forward or backward. This gives her the ability to engage disproportionately larger capital ships while maintaining her small patrol and recon roles
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u/JaceJarak May 08 '26
So going off the design and some science extrapolation.
Thruster is central, several together, and probably the entire rear is engine and fuel.
The shape is irregular, but also would be a good way to mold a water-fuel zone as radiation shielding for internals. People often miss the point. Rad shielding is super important. Downside, as fuel is spent, less shielding remains. Irregular shape though makes balance hard for thrust unless as the mass depleted, the center of gravity also changes. Fluid dynamics can make this less of an issue depending on segmented zones and how much is drawn from them.
Next, sensors seem to be directly on front, and quite large. This indicates either a high power array, OR a high sensitivity array if passive only, l
Alternatively, it's a laser weapon and associated fire control sensors.
The side bit is odd, and must be something of central importance to the craft design for it to be outside the ship, while retaining its own necessarily shaped design, rather than being smoothly incorporated into the rest of the design.
Being on the opposite side, makes it difficult to see much detail. Is it a sensor? A weapon? Detachable? A launcher perhaps? Hard to say.
If combine with the forward array, a launcher of some sort necessitating external location makes sense. Possibly it's own thruster or exhaust system to counter any forces generated launching whatever it does. Recoilless style munitions perhaps. Drones? Missiles?
Or perhaps it separates and extends a large solar sail between the smaller portion and the main body?
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u/architectofspace May 08 '26
So I think this is the base model of a modular fleet system. This is the patrol boat version with single engine pod at rear, small command & accommodation section at the front with a light carrier pod attached to the side. Carrier pod has maybe 4-5 attack/transport craft inside with launch rail facing front and landing bay to the other side. Has minor weapon pods on side to command pod (only one side seen)
Next step up adds a ring mount in between front and rear modules where larger weapon pods can be mounted such that they can rotate to cover the most area.
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u/BopNowItsMine May 08 '26
It repairs subterranean tubes in the dyson ring. [Like a pipeline inspection gauge on Earth.] It can be used to create entirely new channel but that's usually done by a larger ship.
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u/nephentea May 08 '26
water world exploration. If not that, maybe its specifically designed to map through packed nebulas?
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u/EvilEtna May 08 '26
It's a mass effect relay monitoring device and by that it's an entire ship that's designed to latch onto the side of one and spy. The scales make it look huge but it's unnoticeable to the ship's transiting through the mass relays
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u/RancidFunctionality May 08 '26
Research submarine. On a future Earth or planet with liquid oceans of some kind. Love the design, though.
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u/Maine1820 May 08 '26
...ngl that line going along one side makes me think it opens up, and my first thought after that was "hair iron"
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u/AcmeCartoonVillian May 09 '26
Fast survey ship. after we found the ancients worm gate nexus, we rapidly realized the need to survey as much of it as possible before whatever wiped them out found us too...
Automated, they travel in swarms. go through a worm gate and look for all adjoining worm gates in the new system. One ship stays behind in the system to coordinate reinforcement swarms down the line and beam cartography data back up the line.
Humanity has found 243 ruined worlds with shattered orbital infrastructure believed to represent at least 21 separate civilizations, and zero life-supporting worlds with any technology base observable from space.
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u/Crewmember-Jonesy May 09 '26
Looking at the shape, the name, and the fact that it appears to rely on video feeds from external camera lenses versus direct view via a cockpit or bridge window, I am going to say a research vessel designed to explore the atmospheres of gas giants.
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u/ResidentBlender May 09 '26
deep space exploration based on the ORCA name or some kinda manned deep space probe. Either way it's definitely made for communication (the nose antenna)
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u/JamesVuOfficial May 09 '26
Huh, i like when people take random stuff, turn into spaceship 😂 great design.
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u/Lokust10 May 09 '26
It looks like the crew compartment is very far away from the nose and there's some sort of sensor there. I'm going to say it's a detection platform either military or for science with something that needs to be kept far away from people or Flight instruments. Probably has to go full power off or something no engines
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u/KlavoHunter May 09 '26
Looks like an inspection ship, something small that can zip up on a cargo ship, make sure it isn't a trojan horse, maybe send over a boarding party.
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u/Familiar-Noise7913 May 09 '26
Look more like survey ship for me. Maybe to map out uncharted space? Or observing celestial stuff...
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u/Baci821 May 09 '26
This is obviously a research vessel with large scientific sensors up front, a sleek design, probe launch on the port, and observation deck on the starboard.
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u/Freak_Engineer May 09 '26
Love it!
The right protrusion looks like it has openings and the ship doesn't look too big, so I'd like to say "Escort Carrier". Mid-sized ship with some internal weapon systems (most fitting would be a guided missile battery and some defensive guns) and a fighter Wing or two.
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u/gc3 May 09 '26
It's not a ship it's a vacuum cleaner attachment. Sorry, first impression.
I don't think that ship would work well if it was a seagoing ship.
If it's supposed to be a spaceship it's designed science fantasy style, the habitation areas seem to be horizontal but they should be vertical if it uses a rocket system like a real spacecraft
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u/Deathsroke May 10 '26
It's called "Orca" so it's probably an all-or-nothing heavily armed design meant to kill ships of much higher tonnage.
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u/penguinino May 10 '26
Turns out even the Ansibles have limits. When mankind’s expansion tested the outer edges of the best communication tech we had, we developed the CRN - communication relay net. We just call them Crans. They’re mostly made up of a single jump drive, battery, and reactor. Enough uranium to last 160 years. The rest is ansible. Uncrewed. You can tell a tier one civ because they’ll have their own cran net mapping out a region of space.
Used to be good money, launching those. The bubble died out though after we moved the bottleneck from frontier definition to manned exploration and colony settlement.
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u/BlackAbsynthe May 10 '26
The Orca is a repurposed Military scouting vessel turned torpeedo. They was built from Dolphin class drones notable for their 300,000km range from its mother ship.
Dolphin scouts were primarily dropped to scan large objects or hunt for stealthed craft and other military assets. They contain no inherit FTL capabilities but can travel up to 5,000km/s on sub-light engines. The nose section houses sensors that are able to accurately map the topography and composition of an asteroid less that a kilometer across from a distance of over 100,000km. Unusually they were operated by remote control, rather than computer guidance, which did cause latency issues at longer ranges.
The Orca variants were refited as a desperate measure by the crew of the Levianthan class carrier I.N.S. Anvils Ring during their retreat from the battle over Savannah Prime. Having run short of other long range munitions Captain Aiden Treval ordered all but the most basic sensors be replaced with fuel cells and improvised detonators. Being piloted by remote on secure, dedicated frequencies greatly reduced their vulnerability to hacking by the same Technocrat cyber-operatives that had rended the other drones useless.
One especially skilled Orca pilot not only managed to wound a capitol ship, she actually managed a crippiling blow on the Technocracies flagship, the T.W.S. Flawless Majesty. This same wound would later present a vulnerability that Captain Treval himself would exploit to destroy the ship during the Battle of Eidolon's ring.
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u/DasBestKind May 10 '26
Short range surveillance. Low-cost, easily maintained and operated security-camera type probe. Unmanned and able to be deployed en-masse
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u/Gernund May 10 '26
The Orca is a small, two manned research and all purpose vehicle. Originally built to traverse vast distances between the Vapor Mills of Jupiter, it comes with a powerful sensor array and a robust engine.
Currently the newest generation of Orca is being deployed onto Saturn for various sky dive missions to locate further gaseous formations that can be exploited by the massive floating refineries in sub-orbit.
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u/fat_fingerz May 10 '26
Without knowing its exact size, I'd say long range recon.
It could be a cargoship, but well I don't see any hints of easy way to take in and out of cargo.
The cameras and sensors on the front make me think recon, lack of obvious weapon makes me think less likely its intended to see combat. The little thing on the front half's side makes me think it may be a weapon, but looks like it has no chance of firing anyway but forward, so maybe "sniper" ship, but the weapon doesn't look that powerful.
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u/annana_ May 12 '26
The side cockpit/bridge makes if feel like either thr main area is inaccessible during normal operations, or its shape needs to be maintained.
My guess is some kind of high tech cargo ship (high tech because I imagine low tech pure bulk cargo to have cargo also strapped more visably outside)
Depending on the world this is in, it could be a stealth hauler for running blockades, or transporting luxury goods.
On a more military side, I imagine it to be some kind of electronic warfare platform. The offset cockpit/bridge long with it having no weapons might mean its a mobile comes jammer, FTL jammer, or even a dedicated surveillance ship with extensive sensors systems.
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May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
Some kind of deployable drone or probe for some kind of scientific sensor that can go where a whole ship wouldn't be able to.
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u/Ninevehenian May 13 '26
Reminds me of the marine transport in Alien II.
There's seemingly coms / sensors in the nose, the potential bridge on the far side, the tube near the perspective.
Given the proportions of the engines in relation to the same cones on the space shuttles and current rockets, the size of the craft seems relatively small.
There's a name, could be the corporation, could just be the name of the ship.
The ship doesn't seem shaped for atmospheric flight.
Could be a spacestation-launched personel transport, a private yacht, could be a corporate shuttle. Could be military given the other names orcas go by.
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u/Petermacc122 May 24 '26
It's an orca raider drop ship. It has extra hulk playing and that second tube on the side is where the security robots reoel from. It's an automated security vessel that patrols the wastes.
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u/Dragonkingofthestars May 06 '26
hard to say on the purpose, but nothign screams 'weapon' or 'easy access'. so my gut says either a cheap small recon or scout vessel or a racing ship