You know it had to happen. Because I still can't help myself, I decided the 600,000-ton Hiroshi the Uncrowned wasn't big enough (no room for servants or the luxury passengers' vehicles), so, I decided to bump it up to 1,000,000 tons! Enjoy and happy treasure hunting!
A Mongoose 2e design. Hiroshi the Uncrowned was a singular ship rather than a class of vessels because only someone insanely wealthy and arrogant would have ever built even one. The ship was designed and constructed at the yards on Luna in the Sol system and was one of the first ships made there to TL15 specifications, before the world was knocked back down to TL14 after the invasion.
She was the largest, most luxurious ship made to serve up to 2,800 of the Solomani Party leadership (in 1,400 luxurious double-occupancy staterooms, with 2,800 double-occupancy luxury standby high staterooms for their butlers, ladies in waiting, valets, and maids, and 9 dtons of personal common area in the luxury suite with 1 dton of interior corridor) and would definitely have continued excelling in that role had she not been lost fleeing the Imperial Navy at Terra where she was evacuating the cream of the Party leadership and numerous artistic and cultural relics brought from across the Imperium and the Solomani Sphere before the system fell to the Imperium in the Rim War.
Made to exacting standards with the very best workmanship and materials, every system and amenity costs an additional 375% above the base cost, making her ridiculously expensive to build (TCr1.863 total, more than five times the cost of a fully outfitted Tigress Dreadnought and only twice the size) and maintain (MCr155.281 per maintenance period). The superior materials and construction make the ship stronger than she would otherwise be (x1.5 hull points, 1,100,000), faster (x1.5, thrust 3), and powerful (x1.5 power generation, 294,204). All shipboard rolls earn a DM+2 due to the quality of the equipment and working environment.
Her amenities could not possibly have been overstated. She was made to fit the Solomani Party's ideal of what the vessel serving their elite required and deserved. The luxury passenger common areas were expanded by more than double, even over the already spacious allotment, to a total of 16,000 dtons (72,000 square meters), giving them plenty of elbow room consisting of elegant sitting rooms, trendy restaurants, salons for gathering for drinks, stately bars, and innumerable other niches that only the wealthy seem to understand or need. The ship came with 840 chefs who split their time between official formal dining and the aforementioned trendy restaurants, which were owned and operated by the ship.
Even above the opulent furnishings and exquisite commons, she came of a configurable common area (4,200 dtons) that could be an elegant dining room, ballroom, sports venue, or whatever else was desired. As she held three full dinners with all passengers during jump, that was required. The area additionally held dancing floorspace for 50% of the guests and 168 bar stations to keep them lubricated with the best alcohol available.
She came with a stately casino (1,500 dtons) suitable for 500 players who could afford the high-stakes games held there. She also had 7 500-dton biospheres, 3,500 dtons total (freshwater aquatic, saltwater aquatic, tropical rainforest, temperate forest, boreal forest, desert, and savanna, 2,250 square meters each) for the enjoyment of her passengers. For the adventurous, there was a 350 dton zero-G facility.
She also came with an extensive commercial area with 200 luxury boutiques taking up variable tonnage from the 4,000 dtons allocated (average 20 dtons) meant to provide for the passengers' every whim and desire. These boutiques were leased for MCr10 a month with the expectation that they would generate three times that in sales. 6,000 dtons of storage were set aside for goods to sell.
Additionally, some staff members were typically amenable to off-the-books services to discerning passengers, though with remote oversight via neural jack to ensure the safety of the staff and a way to summon security if needed, as well as a biometer to make certain that no health emergency was missed. All the crew had those implants for tracking, safety, and communication. Skills to assist in any shipboard or support capacity were available wirelessly or via wafer.
Though many functions could have been filled by robots, no mechanicals were allowed aboard (with one exception), even for cleaning and maintenance roles. Only sophont crew were acceptable to the elite. The exceptions were the avatars used in the gaming space, where up to 800 people could control enhanced avatars of various kinds in games and combat against one another.
She was built with a reinforced hull, was heavily armed with many pulse lasers, sandcasters, fusion barbettes, advanced sensors, and, even though not needed, she had a command bridge for the prestige of her passengers. Never advertised, she also came with 6 large meson bays, and a black globe generator for the ultimate in protection of her precious passengers. Her fuel tanks were made of metal hydride and meant to protect her ability to jump at need.
The ship had 5 Prospectus-Class 500-ton J6 passenger recruitment vessels designed to run ahead of the ship to prepare everything for her arrival. They ran a schedule of two weeks assisting the liner and jumping with her, then jumping ahead without stopping for four weeks and stopping to recruit passengers for another four weeks before repeating the process. The ship held docking bays for all of them for when the ship was relocating her route.
Then there were the 16 Skeeter Heavy-Class 200-Ton Heavy Fighters as in-system escorts. The ship carried 3 advanced missile reloads for them. Also included were 2 335-ton Oversized Modular Cargo Cutters. She came with 10 crew shuttles and 20 luxury passenger shuttles to ferry the passengers and crew as needed. The ship came with extra staterooms for the Skeeter and Prospectus crews during jump.
The ship came with 2,800 dtons of cargo space that could be rented for double the freight cost for J6. The limited space could spark bidding wars from those determined to bring their favorite vehicles along. Additionally, the ship came with 1,400 dtons of heavily armored vault space. Each stateroom had the option of reserving up to one dton in vault space for a fee of four times the rate of a dton of freight at J6. All that (and more) was filled as Terra was stripped of her treasures. Sadly, because she wasn't prepared for the early arrival of the Imperial Navy, she jumped while deep in Terra's gravity well to avoid capture and was lost with all hands.
The ship has spawned many search expeditions and fantastic rumors about her, but no sign of the magnificent vessel or her priceless cargo has ever been found. None of her passengers or crew turned up later to tell any tales, either, so the public at large was left to speculate about what happened to her over the century since her loss. Ghost sightings have been reported from across the Imperium and Confederation, though none have been deemed credible.
If she were ever to be found, it is certain that the Confederation would clamor for her return, though the Imperium claims the vessel as a war prize and would take possession if she were found in Imperial space. Even the ownership of the art and cultural artifacts aboard her is hotly contested. Still, even a basic salvage percentage from either claimant for the ship alone would make the discoverers wealthy beyond their wildest dreams of avarice. Add in the art and other precious items, and the payday would be incalculable.
Good hunting, Travellers!
