I finished some little projects I had going on. Introducing the Manakel, Zazriel, and Azazel vessels, vanilla-inspired subs meant for smaller crews with more tradeoffs/quirks to make them interesting. Here's a little introduction of them:
The Manakel is a cheap, short-range transport vessel drafted shortly after the first deep-sea colonies were developed on Europa. Based on heavy transport spacecraft and with little knowledge of the hostile fauna at the time, earlier models didn’t feature turret mounts. Fortunately, a later model would include two coilguns fixed to the upper and lower hull, with a gunnery station placed just outside the command room. This would be the only change seen in “newer” vessels, as an airlock and a reactor were still considered non-essential features for a vessel whose sole purpose was to quickly deliver supplies to adjacent colonies. Instead, it featured a high-capacity battery array capable of maintaining maximum load throughout the course of two standard routes (~30–35 minutes). Upon reaching a station, it would simply recharge and restock before departing once more. The battery array makes the electric grid highly responsive, at the cost of increased engineering maintenance and a limit on mission length.
The Zazriel was designed in response to the discovery of hostile fauna, with the intention of being sold to mercenary crews. The vessel’s engineers took note of the widespread flooding that occurred when ships engaged alien attackers and adopted an experimental approach: installing electric-motor pumps powered by interchangeable batteries rather than pumps connected to the main grid. In this configuration, the grid is placed under less stress during flooding, and the batteries can provide greater power, leading to more responsive anti-flooding measures in exchange for diligent pump “maintenance.” This philosophy allowed crews to fight longer without worrying as much about the vessel sinking. It also meant the vessel could utilize a lower-risk, lower-output nuclear reactor to sustain the rest of the grid. While manufactured vessels came equipped with only two chainguns, an auxiliary heavy mount was placed on the bottom for hired crews to expand upon, reducing shipyard costs. For reasons not entirely understood, many sailors became attached to the vessel, with the average crew lasting 13 missions without a mission-critical catastrophe. Some crews even mounted the heads of slain fauna to the bow, displaying their combat prowess to other sailors.
The Azazel was based on a near-ancient, peculiar relic, featuring no lower gun mounts and using a conventional engine. Despite these drawbacks, it was intended to be a jack of all trades. Drainage ducts, vessel-wide alarms, crew quarters, and a robust electrical grid allowed even the most inexperienced crews to operate independently in this alien environment. Mechanicals and scholars developed a fuel source derived from deep-sea flora, efficiently powering engines capable of submersible propulsion. This model features fuel tanks large enough for 15 minutes of maximum propulsion. While the fuel could not be produced at sea, it was readily available at nearly every outpost. In addition, similar to the Zazriel, a lower turret mount was installed for more capable crews, though a depth charge tube stocked with decoy charges was provided until such upgrades could be afforded. While the Azazel could not withstand hordes of attackers, it could evade them while exploring the depths for mining outposts and lost goods. Though these were its official purposes, many rogue scientists procured the vessel to pursue their own curiosity of the depths.