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ASD L-37 Magic Carpet Cruiseliner

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Disco Dancefloor: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2805185844 (Yes, the ship has a working disco room.)
Whip's Artificial Horizon Redux: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1721247350

Blocks: 5682
PCU: 24627
Atmospheric capable: if you have suicidal tendencies, sure.
Subgrids: NO


"On a cloud of sound I drift in the night;
Any place it goes is right;
Goes far, flies near;
To the stars away from here..."
- Old earthen rock song

The Hestia-class represents one of Aster Stahl Dynamics' most successful civilian ships. Though its use is not as prolific as it was before the war, ships of the class can still be seen on secure cruise-lines across the Sol Sector.
Originally designed to be a tanker capable of ferrying fuel to space and back, problems arose when an error in the mass calculations caused the prototype to crash on its first attempted takeoff. As it turned out, the design was too heavy to even attempt exiting the atmosphere unladen, let alone fully loaded.
However, with the design so far into development and several billion credits already spent on the project, it was deemed more interesting to reimagine it than to scrap it outright. It was thus decided that the design be repurposed as a luxury cruiseliner, which was admittedly a far cry from the original idea.

Nevertheless, Aster Stahl Dynamics had already made a successful venture with the Brücke-class of merchant ships in the past, and many a-features of the former were implemented into this much larger hull, such as a skylight lounge with a glass ceiling, luxurious accomodations, and a reinforced hull frame. Not to be outdone by the competition, the price of a 1st-class ticket was among the lowest on the market at the time of its launch, owing to the exceptionally low maintenance cost of the ship.

One could think that for such a low amount, the cruise would not offer as much services as other companies. However, the Hestia's hull was expansive enough that a unique feature could be installed; that being a large disco room next to the mess hall. Additionally, ASD went to great lengths to make sure that the ships were crewed by qualified personnel and that the cabins were comfortable, even for 3rd class (though they were still a bit cramped and it was not uncommon for passengers to share a cabin with someone else).

Interestingly, the naming convention for the class differs from the usual. As Stahl Defense Systems was not involved in the design or construction of the ships, since they were intended for civilian-use only, it was Aster Shipyards who took the initiative. They thus decided to name each ship after mythical vehicles or artifacts that served to transport oneself, with this one being the L-37 "Magic Carpet", in reference to an old legend.

The ship certainly lived up to its name, as it was and still is shrouded in mystery and speculation. Most of her service history was unremarkable, up to the point where she went missing on a cruise due to interferences that caused her to misjump. As no distress signal was received, either due to the great distance or the destruction of the ship, she was presumed lost with all hands.

Therefore, when she reappeared in the outskirts of the Sol sector just as the Second Secession War began, she made the news instantly. The ship jumped right on top of a military convoy on its way to the frontlines, which was startled and nearly opened fire on the civilian vessel. The convoy hailed the ship several times, but received no reply. As the ship did not appear hostile, it was then decided to dispatch rescue teams to figure out what happened. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that some part of the hull featured gigantic scratches, as though some kind of titanic beast had clawed it. Apart from these marks, however, the hull was intact and no further evidence of fighting was found.

But the most disturbing part was yet to come. When the rescue teams went inside to look for survivors, they found the ship completely devoid of passengers. Even the crew were not found at their stations, though all systems were online.
The black box did not reveal anything of value. Either the flight recorder had been scrubbed clean, or there was an inexplicable force at work. However, one thing remained in the data banks, being a hyperspace jump over a distance so mind-bogglingly huge even the computer couldn't encompass it (though it had enough computation capability to plot several galaxy-spanning courses in one go).

Apparently, this was the last jump the Magic Carpet made before she was recovered. Exactly how she achieved the jump remains a mystery to this day, though there has been some debate about cosmic phenomena, alien races or even ghosts guiding the ship home. The hull is still being examined; although rumour has it that ASD's research teams have found something with extremely unsettling implications...

Please make me aware of any issues regarding this design, it does help me improve. Any feedback in the comments is also appreciated!