Serpent-class Sloop

The Mars Federation Serpent-class Colony Sloop represents the "dirtjobs" of the Federation Fleet. Hauling precious supplies and resources to the distant colonies of the Federation, these huge, dirty vessels puts priority on it's task, not it's looks.

Built by Olympus Mons Aerospace in the third year of the Sol War, these sloops were the first non-combat ships to field the new TransDimensional Faster-Than-Light Drive, a safer way to travel Faster-Than-Light than the earlier SolDrive, which required flying dangerously close to the sun or a medium-weight star, as the brave colonists had did decades before. A sloop could carry much needed food or medical supplies, as well as important equipment that the colonists lacked in the far-off worlds across the galaxy. Sloops also served as transports for the Federation fleet as well as to ferry wounded or seriously-ill Colonists back home.

A sloop is a welcome sight to most colonists. They bring relief to the brave people on the distant worlds of the Federation. With the coming of the Serpent-class Sloop, colonists began to see weekly resupplies instead of the average supply ship coming every 6 months, due to the difficulty and expense of using the earlier SolDrive. It gave many colonists new freedoms, as many never thought that they might return to their homes on Mars ever again. The sloops also brought in new arrivals, which greatly aided the colonists in colonizing the worlds that they were on.

Though the aging sloops are being retired from Federation service, many officers prefer the Serpent-class rather than the new sloopships entering service, for the Serpent-class was famous for it's great crew comfort, in contrast of it's rusted and scarred exterior, mostly due to spending long hours and days in heavy weather on some of the colonies they have reached. Many officers regard an old, scarred sloop as a symbol of tough and ruggedness.