The Seraphim

Vital Statistics

Registered Name: Seraphim

Aliases:

Registered Owner: Niko Nori

Captain: Niko Nori, although it is more often piloted by Alina Martin

Registration Number:

Manufacturer: Unknown

Construction Shipyard: Ceres

Launch Date: Unknown

Make: Small Shuttle

Model: Unknown

Centerline: 36 feet

Beam: 11 feet (fusilage), 28 feet (wing-tip to wing-tip)

Dry Weight: 13,000 pounds

Passenger Capacity: 2

Cargo Capacity: Minimal, around 250 pounds

Sub-Luminal Drive Type: Two High-Output Plasma

Super-Luminal Drive Type: None

Sub-Luminal Cruising Velocity: 110,000 MPH

Sub-Luminal Maximum Velocity: 130,000 MPH

Super-Luminal Cruising Velocity: N/A

Super-Luminal Maximum Velocity: N/A

Mean Earth-Luna Trip Time: 1.5

General Description

The Seraphim is a tiny, 2 passenger shuttle owned and Operated by Niko Nori. It hangers at her private facility in Ceres and is maintained only by her. If Niko were ever forced to reveal that she actually had any special feelings for an object, it would be this ship, as it was the vessel that she used to bring Alina home to her after she escaped the clutches of Tor Rayean in Tranquility.

The Seraphim is an ultra-fast performance vessel that has been kitted out with a few ammenities, such as a small sleeping cabin and a functioning bathing tub. To compensate for these additions, and to increase her performance envelope, all other non-essentials have been trimmed out, including any and all weapon systems, armor, and combat shielding. She maintains strong navigational shields, an extremely advanced sensory suite, and top of the line avionics and RCS/maneuvering systems, making her an extremely nimble craft in nearly any environment. Added to that, is the fact that she is powered by two high-output plasma drives that are well above her weight class, and a set of JATO/RATO boosters (Jet/Rocket Assisted Take-Off) for escaping high-gravity wells, or for an extra burst of speed in a pinch.

The Seraphim, while certainly not the fastest ship around, is easily in the top 50, and can make the run from Earth to Luna, a trip that takes most vessels 5-6 hours, and sprinters such as The Kestrel, 3-4 hours, in just over an hour.

While Niko tends to stay in and around Ceres with her obligations demanding much of her time, Alina uses The Seraphim to make her trips to and from runner facilities to secure business, maintain relationships with customers, and carve out new market share for their operations.

Sensor Systems of Note

Defensive Systems of Note

High-energy navigational shields. These are capable of stopping only the lightest of munitions, such as light rail guns/mass drivers and are useless against explosives and energy weapons.

Offensive Systems of Note

None

Special Features of Note

History

Spoilers

Status: In Service

Riana borrowed the Seraphim in the fourth novel after waking up from a six month, artificialy induced coma to find that Anja had gone on a bloody rampage across the Sol System, using her name. While sprinting to Neo-Tokyo to put a stop to Anja’s activities, she was attacked by several pirate vessels and forced to use The Seraphim’s speed and agility to out-maneuver and confound the pirates before escaping to safety.