Teknokon Ships

The great Teknokon ships are the only widely-used means of transportation in Timeless Space. They resemble wooden seafaring ships, but are computer-driven technological marvels made of plastin. The larger ships are armed with cannons. These cannons fire what is assumed to be lasers, but unlike normal lasers, they have a travel speed of well below the speed of light, they are limited to a range of less than line-of-sight, and they cause an explosion upon impact. The ships are powered apparently by their powersails, which seem to generate electricity from time energy if the word "chronalectric" is accurate. The ships generate motive power from some sort of thruster nacelle on the stern. To operate correctly, the powersails must be balanced. To facilitate this, the shipboard computer can be made to network the powersails.

These ships were built by the technologists of Kada Jansen's time, and her computer is able to access and control their systems.

Known Named Ships

• Bloody Bun
• Laser Sword
• Runt II
• The Red Squadron
• Teknokon One
• The Bloody Bun

History

The Teknokon ships were built by the Teknokon robots to facilitate their exploration of Timeless Space. Because robots cannot sustain time very long by themselves, the Teknokons cultivated forests and transplanted them to the large decks of their ships. The living vegetation was able to retain time for much longer than the Teknokons themselves could, and so they continued planting vegetation as they explored. Eventually, the exploration was deemed worthless and the Teknokons were recalled, leaving the ships behind. As people began to populate Timeless Space, they began discovering and inhabiting the ships, using them for their own means. Admiral John Jacobs assembled a navy full of Teknokon ships to facilitate his attempt to fulfill the Clotho Legacy, thus prompting many pirates to commandeer Teknokon ships for their own uses.

Types

From smallest to largest:

Landing Craft

These small drop-ships have two small powersails sticking out to the sides, angled slightly downwards. At the stern is a raised pole, which may either sport a third tiny sail or a flag. They can hold up to about six people.

Examples

• Runt II

Carib Craft

This curious unnamed ship appears to be a large landing craft modified with a top shell and a fourth powersail, mounted on a top mast. Inside, there's enough room to seat four Caribs side-by-side.. Since both known flights of this craft ended in crashes, the stability of its design is dubious.

Teknokon One

This one-of-a-kind ship is slightly smaller than a skiff. It is designed unlike any other Teknokon ship; it lacks powersails and appears to be more like a capsule than a boat. For more information, see Teknokon One.

Skiff

Skiffs are small, fast ships. They have a large topsail and a small bottom sail. The only interior compartment they have is a small Captain's quarters at the stern, but they do have a large deck. The most attractive feature of the skiff is the powerful engine, which allows it to overtake any other unmodified ship. The engine also performs well under load, permitting a skiff to tow other ships. This power can be leveraged to tear the powersails off of another ship. Skiffs are very lightly armed, sporting only grapple cannons.

Examples

• The Red Squadron

Standard Ship

The standard size Teknokon ship has two large powersails: a topsail and a bottom sail mounted amidships. They are armed with two large cannons, usually configured with one fore and one aft, with the fore cannon on the port side and the aft cannon facing starboard. The cannons have strong cables attached so they may be aimed or moved to either side. These ships are spacious enough to have an interior below deck. Accessible through the aft door on deck is the captain's quarters and the areas below deck, consisting of crew quarters, a galley and a cargo hold. The cargo hold is also accessible through a hatch on deck.

Examples

• Bloody Bun

Six-Sailed Ship

Little is known about this ship, as it is only seen in the background. It appears to be larger in size than the standard ship. It has a large top powersail, and also has five smaller powersails. It has a long, thin hull, and looks as if it was built for speed. It may also have a large crew compliment or cargo hold, as evidenced by its especially large time bubble.

Large Ship

The large ships have six or eight powersails: two gigantic top and bottom sails amidships, two large aft sails perpendicular to the middle sails, and a pair of large and small fore sails. The smaller fore sails may not always be present. These ships have four cannons mounted in the center line of the deck. They can be aimed to fire at either side. The standard configuration is to have each cannon aimed in alternating directions from its neighbor. The ship's interior below deck is quite spacious, with a large captain's quarters, large galley, and crew quarters with plenty of bunk space. There is also a brig, but a small cargo hold.

Examples

• Laser Sword
• The Bloody Bun

Capital Ship

The largest Teknokon ship is the personal flagship of Admiral John Jacobs. It has twelve powersails, two large fore sails (top and bottom), three sails on each main mast (top and bottom), two large aft sails (top and bottom) and two perpendicular sails mounted above and below the captain's quarters. It appears to have eight cannons on deck. Also, the interiors are extravagantly spacious.