The pictures in this chapter have been eliminated to save space, and therefore download time (and money).
Your ship was designed specifically for extended long range missions. Almost every system on the ship is completely automated, eliminating the need for extra crewmembers while leaving the pilot free to navigate.
The damage control systems on the DS27-E are capable of adapting its systems to incorporate alien technology. After you destroy an enemy ship, you should be able to make use of any machinery that remains intact. If an installed alien machine becomes damaged, it will be replaced if there is an identical piece of equipment in the cargo bay. Alien machinery cannot be repaired, and machinery can only be replaced when the damage level of the system that it modifies is in the green range. The cargo bay can hold as many as ten extra pieces of equipment.
The DS27-E also carries a state-of-the-art molecular transmogrifier, allowing it to turn space debris into parts that it can use to repair itself. The transmogrifier is designed to hold up to 3,000 pounds of raw material. You should try to keep the amount of raw material as close to maximum as possible.
The ship will automatically retrieve any object that comes within range, so to collect alien machinery and raw materials you just need to fly close to the object.
If you are trying to pick up alien machinery and your cargo bay is already full, the ship will discard the item that you have the most of to make room for the new item. If you are trying to pick up raw material or fuel, and you are already carrying close to the maximum amount, the ship will pick up as much as it can carry and discard the rest.
Only three types of reuseable alien machinery are known at this time. We hope to update this database as more alien machinery is encountered and analyzed. After you have encountered a new type of alien machinery, your analysis will be automatically recorded by your ship and sent to Alliance Command when you enter the subspace vortex.
窶｢ The DS27-E Long Range Scanner
The DS27-E long range scanner uses the latest sensor technology. It is able to detect objects as small as a few feet in diameter within a distance of 9600 kilometers, and larger objects within a distance of 320,000 kilometers. It can differentiate between larger objects to some extent. For instance, it can tell the difference between another ship and an asteroid, but it can't differentiate between ships.
Ships appear on the scanner as red dots. Asteroids and other unidentifiable objects appear brown. Small objects are orange, and fast moving small objects are yellow. The enemy base is indicated by a large red dot, and the subspace vortex is shown as a large purple dot.
If the enemy base is beyond scanner range, its estimated direction is shown by a large blinking red dot on the outer edge of the scanner circle. Once the vortex has been detected, if you fly so as to put it beyond scanner range its direction is indicated by a large blinking purple dot.
The DS27-E will always appear in the center of the scanner circle, indicated by a small green dot. The DS27-E long range scanner has both a directional indicator and a motion indicator. The directional indicator, which appears on the scanner boundary as a large green dot, specifies which direction the DS27-E is pointing. The motion indicator, which appears as a small green dot, represents the actual direction and velocity of the DS27-E. Velocity is indicated by distance from the origin, and direction is indicated by direction from the origin.
