The Lokintale is a rare sight to behold for most Europan sub-spotters. This is owing in part to the type’s short production run, which ended due to difficulty fabricating the specialised hull plates, and high manufacturing costs generating a net loss for the AIC. But the Lokintale’s elusiveness is also largely thanks to the kind of crews it always seems to attract: brazen explorers headed off to the farthest uninhabited unpeopled reaches of the moon, in search of the next great discovery. Among those who return, there are many renowned adventurers who now refuse to set sail in anything but a Lokintale. The only problem is, we’ll never know what can be said of the sub by the vast majority who’ve never been seen again.
Specifications
Class: Scout, Tier 2
Price: 18,000 mk
Recommended crew: 3 - 5
Dimensions: 33 x 11 m
Cargo capacity: 4 crates
Fabrication: Fabricator, Deconstructor, Medical Fabricator
Max horizontal speed: 26.9 kph
Max descent speed: 15.7 kph
Max reactor output: 3,500 kW
Armament
- 1 chaingun
- 2 double coilguns
- 2 discharge coils (auto optional)
Features
Fully-fitted helm
The Lokintale command room has all the bells and whistles a captain could want: an anunciator panel with a range of warning lights, a fuel and battery level display, a small foghorn, and a terminal for using long-range comms and the ship’s console (see below). All of this, plus the captain gets an excellent view of Europa's wildlife through the patented CyclopeanShield™ round window (we promise, it's 3.6 times stronger than standard glass – in theory, at least).
Engineer and captain’s terminals
The engineer’s terminal in the reactor room grants access to the system console. Here, commands can be entered to control various electrical systems around the sub:
- Turn batteries on or off
- Set recharge rates for batteries and supercapacitors
- Set the engine limiter
- Shut down the reactor
- Rig for silent running (enables batteries, suppresses reactor, limits engine)
- Set docking ports to import or export power
- Connect or disconnect docking ports with the navigation terminal
- Draw charge from the drone to power the submarine
- Switch between automatic or manual discharge coils
- Adjust the amount of power supplied to the oxygen generator
The captain’s terminal is two systems rolled into one, as its button allows switching between the console and sub-to-sub comms. In console mode (purple text), the terminal offers identical functionality to the engineer’s one. In comms mode (green text), it uses an ultra long-range wifi component to send and receive transmissions from distant subs. Channel 713 is used by default, enabling Lokintale to communicate with other AIC subs, including the Mephist shuttle.
Sootsprite-B drone
Courtesy of Goyu's shipyard, who authorised their robotic helper for the AIC’s use, the Lokintale now comes equipped with a modified Sootsprite-B exploration drone sporting a searchlight and 12 slots for items. This periscope-driven drone is nimble and small enough to assist dive teams deep inside Europa’s narrow cave systems, but it is fragile and has no onboard defence systems. Sootsprite-B can be controlled using the periscope in Amidships or the one at the forward end of the Command Room (double-click to switch between searchlights and drone control).
Credits & thanks
- Credit for the design of the Sootsprite-B drone belongs to Chief Mutineer Goyu, who let me reuse their original Soot Sprite Live design for the Lokintale’s resident robot.
- The shape and colour of Lokintale’s hull loosely resembles Atomos Shipyards’ M-003A ‘Slog’. Perhaps the design rubbed off on the engineers while Atomos were building some of their early legacy slogs at the AIC? No-one knows for sure.
Recommended respawn shuttle for use with this sub: Mephist
