Morakos (ship)

The Morakos (meaning "Shadowkiller") was an Orion starship constructed in the late 23rd century. It was a privateer owned by the Kerav Family of the Orion Colony world of Daros IV.

It was named after the Morakos, a predatory animal native to Daros IV.

History
Merkos Kerav, head of the Kerav Family, had long had dreams of reviving the ancient traditions of Orion piracy. These would be realized when Commander Kothaar of the Klingon Empire came to him with promises of Imperial support in unifying Daros IV under Kerav rule and launching pirate raids against Federation shipping. To this end, one of their first steps was to begin construction of a pirate vessel. The Klingons supplied many of the high-tech components. The Morakos entered service in reference stardate 2/1009 (circa 2270).


 * With no known piracy in the area and a continued supply of ship-related technology, it is likely that the Morakos was still being fitted out over the next few years.

On stardate 2/1410.21 (or stardate 8310.5) (circa 2273), the Morakos ambushed Starfleet Intelligence operative Commander Michael Thorn while returning to Outpost 36 with the results of his investigation. He was captured, and thanks to the privateer's jamming device, only an incomplete subspace message reached the outpost, but it was enough to bring more investigators. The Morakos would later be used to deal with them as well.


 * As this is an RPG adventure module, the official outcome is unknown, though a successful conclusion would see the USS Patton (Larson class) destroy the Morakos after it pursues the Eridani Star.

Design
The Morakos was constructed almost entirely of Klingon-manufactured or -supplied high technological components, including warp engine, impulse engine, deflector shield disruptors and photon torpedos, as well as navigation programs, computer parts and dilithium crystals. However, the Klingons had little wish to make it equal to their own equivalent vessels, so it was generally out-of-date or lesser-grade technology; for example, it had a first-generation model photon torpedo tube. Even Orion engines and weapons from the core Colonies were smaller and more efficient than those of the Morakos.

One thing the Morakos did have in its favor was a very powerful jamming device. At close range, it could block subspace communications, preventing enemy vessels from signaling for aid. For transporters, it had one standard 6-person personnel transporter and a 22-person emergency transporter, as well as one cargo transporter.

The Morakos was 100 meters long, 49 meters wide and 30 meters high, and weighed 17,000 metric tons. It could carry up to 2000 standard cargo units and had one shuttlecraft. It had two KWB warp engines and one KIC impulse engine, with a KSG deflector shield. For armaments, it had two KD-4 and two KD-5 disruptors, but only a single KP-1 photon torpedo launcher.

When not in use, the Morakos was housed in an underground hangar at Skaroskar.

Crew
The Morakos had a crew of 38 Orions, who quartered aboard the ship. Merkos Kerav commanded the vessel himself.