So there we were, dug into a hillside on the French colony of Kimanjano. We'd been taking some pretty bad hits the last few days, none of our patrols had come back and we knew the Kafers were going to attack soon. They came at night, the first wave just wondered into the killing area around our perimeter, the claymore, bettys and other mines did most of the work, the automatics cutting down dozens more. An entire Kafer company were slaughtered in less than a minute. Unfortunately, they'd counted on that.

    The second wave was spearheaded by a barrage, emissions seekers and ECM knocking down many of the automatics, HE and Cluster killing the few troops in the open, our wire destroyed by what looked like a inferno bomb, that a thermobaric warhead to the tech-heads in the head-shed. Then they openned up, massive fire coming down, rocket grenades blowing our holes. Mannie and I crawled out of ours just as it was blown, cutting down the Kafers who tried charging through, but before we could get back in the remains of our hole we caught the blast of a Kafer rocket grenade. I was lying there thinking "this is it, I'm dead" when a great big "Sasquatch" Combat Walker strode past me, guns blazing, the spearhead of our counterattack. The next thing I knew I was being carried back to the aid station by some Space Force personnel, and placed into a automed on the back of a "Chittie Chittie Bang-bang" a CIT-III lander.

    Who were those spacer risking their life to pull me out of the firing line? United States Space Force Medical Corpmen, thats who.

- Interview with Marine Private 1st Class Tony "Jacko" Jackson, 1st Platoon, B company, 9th US Marines. Published in "Globe and Anchor"August 2302 issue.

Hope class Auxiliary Frigates (Medical)

When the callup of the USSF-R was issued, one of the primary concerns was the provision of medical cover for troops fighting on colony worlds without much infrastructure. To remedy this, the USSF decided to convert three Armstrong class colonisers, small fast colonial carriers, into medical ships. The modifications were not as severe as many ships, and only took 2 months a piece, the main changes being the changeover from Lysander colonial shuttleplanes to CIT-IIIM assault medical landers and the installation of several massive medical wards.

The USS Hope was the first ship commissioned on 26th May, 2300, and Charity a month later and the Faith a few months after that. All three were assigned to the 20th (Reserve) Division (Medical).

The Hope and her sisters are 60 meters long, 15 meters in beam with extending boom arms providing for three spin habitats. One of these is the accommodations wing, the other two are Wards A and B. Being a fairly fast ship, the engineering has been left unchanged, a 5MW MHD Turbine feeding a commercial grade stutterwarp. The ship has 5,000 square meters of extendable solar panels, capable of providing the full power requirement in the life zone of a star.

Apart from the medical equipment, a few other changes were made, mainly the installation of several battle systems. The long range sensors now include neutrino and gravity scanners, and a tactical suite has been installed with a passive scan array. Initially weapons were not installed, the large Red Cross painted on her bow was thought to be adaquate protection, but two hardpoints and the supporting computers and weapons stations were installed. Once it was clear the Kafers did not recognise such signs (why would they?) 2 Grapeshot launchers were installed to give the Hope some defence without compromising her speed.

The medical equipment includes 400 static automed units, 8 operating theatres and trauma wards. The medical crew number 80, of whom 20 are specially trained Corpsmen who ride the landers down into combat zones and pull the wounded from the front lines. These Corpsmen are some of the bravest and most respected members of the US military. Aside from the Corpsmen, there are 8 3 man surgical teams, 12 trauma specialists (in addition to the those who drop) and 24 nurses.

Statistics

US Hope class Auxiliary Frigate (Medical) (Converted Armstrong class Freighter)

Design Date: 2300 (Conversion)
First Example Laid Down: 2300
First Example Completed: 2300
Fleets in Service: America
Number in Service: 3

Performance
Warp efficiency: 1.62 (standard load) (1.73 unloaded)
Power Plant: 5 MW MHD Turbine
Fuel: 1,000 tons (plus 800 tons for landers, 10 refuels each)
Range: 7.7 light years
Endurance: up to 8 weeks
Mass: 4,895 tons (standard load, 3,985 unloaded)
Cargo Capacity: 910 cubic meters
Crew: 117 (10 Bridge, 7 TAC, 6 Engineering, 12 Small Craft Crew, 2 Ships Medical and a 80 man Field Ambulance); Passengers: none
Comfort: 0;
Emergency Power: 60 hours
Total Life Support: 117 for 180 days (generally reduced by casulaties)
Cost: MLv55.07, including landers

Ship Status Sheet
Move: 3
Screens: 0
Radiated Signature: 4
Radial Reflected: 5
Lateral Reflected: 8
Target Computers: +2;
Radial Profile: -1
Lateral Profile: +1
Armour: 0
Hull hits: 15
Power Plant Hits: 14
Active: None
Passive: 5
Manoeuvrability: 1
Other: 5,000 square meter folding solar array (5MW in life zone)

Weapons
2x Grapeshot Launchers (24 shots each, 1x1 warhead, non-nuclear)

Vehicle Load
4x CIT-IIIM Medical Assault Landers in one bay, launch one every 3 minutes

Sensors and Electronics:
Spherical Passive-5
Navigation Radar
DSS
Gravitational

Crew Hits:
Bridge: Captain, Navigator, Helm, Communications, Computer
TAC: 2 Fire Control, Spherical Passive Operator, 4 Flight Control
 
Damage Control: 3

CIT-IIIM lander (Combat Interface Transport, Model 3, Medical Variant)

Type: Interface Assault VTOL Spaceplane
Streamlining: as Spaceplane
Crew: 2 (Pilot and Loadmaster)
Cargo: 4 USSF Medical Corpsmen and 20 Automeds
Weight: 55 tons (fueled)
Armour: 30
Signature: 10
Cruise Air Speed: 900kph
Max Air Speed: 1,000kph
Evasion: 14
Sensor Range: 500m (+2)
Combat Move: 2000m
Power Plant: Ducted Fan Rocket developing 200 tons of thrust
Fuel Capacity: up to 2,000kg
Fuel Consumption: 6,000kg per hour, Rocket: 50,000kg per hour

Weapons: None

Price: MLv1.57