Epsilon Pearl-Lifter Dreadnought — Skyborne Capture Platform
Filed Under: Pearl-Lifter / Horizon-Cage Dreadnought / Wind-Meito Propulsion
Status: Active — roaming contract vessel / high-risk interception asset
Owner-Commander: Dumbledore Kincaid “RedBeard” (Epsilon Bounty Authority)
Fleet Role: Flagship / Command & Net-Caster / Long-Range Pursuit
“No cannons. No mercy. Just math and wind.”
—Sky-Route broker’s warning, unsigned
Name: Aerovore
Class: Pearl-Lifter Dreadnought (Light-Frame Variant)
Primary Roles: pursuit, interception, capture, prisoner transport, fleet coordination
Notable Distinction: Built to rotate, roll, and invert in-flight while interior decks remain level.
Jolly Roger: a skull with a red beard
Common Sight Report: Banner often flown from stern rigging during high-speed chases to “declare claim” on a target.
Standard dreadnoughts carry their weight in guns, powder, armor mass, and recoil bracing.
Aerovore rejects that model entirely.
Doctrine: If you can overtake any hull and board at will, weapons become ballast.
Result: A dreadnought-scale frame tuned for speed, stability, and capture hardware—not destruction.
Structure: Sky-keel spine with ribbed lift cavities; stormwood cross-bracing; plated with lightweight sky-iron scales (non-recoil grade).
Profile: broad belly (vent grid + bay doors), slim shoulders (reduced drag), reinforced stern cone (jet exhaust throat).
Tactile Notes (boarding reports):
Hull hums faintly when the Meito core idles, like a distant gale behind a door.
The ventral plating is warm to the touch near the exhaust grid.
External handholds are deliberately sparse—anti-boarder design.
Primary Core: Wind-attuned Meito Pearl (stern-mounted)
Propulsion Method: directional wind-jet output through:
Stern Jet Nozzle (main sprint thrust)
Ventral Vector Slots (underside “thrust pores” for turn, brake, hover, climb)
Operational Capabilities:
Air Speed: comparable to a fast cutter on open water (sustained)
Vector Control: hard-angle turns without structural stall (requires disciplined crew timing)
Hover Lock: stable enough for boarding drops and net casts
Primary Weakness:
Wind-core output is clean but not infinite—extended pursuit demands strict vent discipline or the ship “spools hot” (pressure shake and drift bloom).
Aerovore contains no “true up.” The hull may roll freely; the interior does not.
System Name: Horizon Cage
Components:
Gimbaled ring-deck (living/work level)
Counter-rotating ballast bands (stabilize against spin)
Pearl-stabilized horizon pins (prevent deck slosh during sudden inversion)
Effect:
The ship can spin like a thrown blade while crew remain oriented—allowing aggressive aerial maneuvers without turning the interior into a slaughterhouse.
Registry Warning:
Unauthorized tampering with horizon pins has caused:
internal vertigo collapse
“false gravity” tilts
bone-break injuries during roll events
Declared Weapons: None (no cannons, no deck guns, no fixed artillery)
Reality: Aerovore is still lethal via capture engineering.
Installed “Non-Weapon” Hardware:
Sky-Net Launch Frames (multi-layer capture mesh)
Harpoon Winch Towers (tow, pin, and hull-drag)
Anchor Lines (mid-air restraint cables with shock-damp knots)
Deck Clamp Ramps (boarding bridges that bite hull edges)
Restraint Pods (pressure-safe prisoner coffins)
Type: wind-surf boards (“jolly boards”)
Launch: ventral bay drop + wake-catch technique
Purpose: rapid boarding, rig sabotage, helm denial, restraint application, evidence retrieval
Common Board Roles:
Pin-Riders: land first, secure lines, prevent escape dives
Helm-Knives: disable steering, cut sail-lift, lock rudder fins
Cage-Men: apply restraint collars and drag nets to crew
Deck A — Command Spine
Horizon Cage control dais
Fleet chart room (sky routes + sea routes)
Contract vault + evidence lockers
Deck B — Bay & Capture Works
Sky-net packing racks
Harpoon winch service lanes
Ventral bay doors + board-launch cradles
Deck C — Crew Ring
bunks, mess, med bay (fracture-heavy)
training circle (board drills, line discipline)
brig access (restraint pods)
Deck D — Keel & Core
Wind-Meito core chamber (restricted)
vent manifold corridors
ballast band service crawl
Total Ship Crew: 141
Key Roles:
Horizon Cage crew (stability techs)
Vent teams (vector timing + heat control)
Net casters (mesh deployment)
Board wing (rapid riders)
Evidence clerks (contract proof discipline)
Strengths
Pursuit Supremacy: cutter-speed in open air with vertical advantage
Interception Geometry: forces targets into net lanes instead of “chasing tail”
Rotation Combat: hull can roll/spin to throw aim and deny boarding angles
Capture Infrastructure: built to take ships intact and crews alive (or at least deliverable)
Limitations
Weather Dependency: violent crosswinds can mask targets but also destabilize vent math
Heat Discipline: prolonged full-thrust risks “spool hot” drift and horizon pin strain
Board Wing Risk: jolly boards are elite but exposed—mistakes are fatal at altitude
Daily
vent-grid clearing (salt dust / sky grit)
horizon pin calibration
net mesh inspection (micro-tears become fatalities)
Weekly
ballast band stress scan
core chamber soot-purge
bay door seal test under inversion
Standing Rule (RedBeard’s):
“Never chase angry. Chase clean.”
Most crew repeat it like prayer.
Aerovore is not a warship. It is a contract guillotine that fell in love with the sky.
Likely Responders:
Pirate lords (avoidance, bribery, ambush attempts)
State fleets (seizure interest; Horizon Cage envy)
Pearlwright factions (study attempts; Meito core rumors)
Conclusion:
If you see the skull and red beard above the clouds, you are already late—
because RedBeard does not “arrive.”
He intercepts.