Last Drop

The Last Drop is the Rim's answer to a question the core empires have not yet asked: how do you supply an outpost so far out that no Federation tanker would price the route. The ship is most accurately described as an asteroid-sized fuel bladder with a thruster array bolted to one end and a cockpit bolted to the other. The hull is built around the bunkerage and almost nothing else, on the principle that a Rim tanker forced to choose between fuel capacity and crew amenities will choose fuel every time. The thruster array is twice the size of any other supertanker's, which gets the Last Drop to its destination faster and burns more fuel per jump — Rim doctrine is that the route is worth more than the fuel, and that the kind of outpost a Last Drop services would rather pay for the speed than the savings. The fuel-efficiency packages the Rim ships are known for carry over, partially offsetting the heavier burn. Outposts on a Last Drop's circuit have been known to stop budgeting for fuel deliveries and start budgeting for the captain's tab at the local saloon. The single scrapgun is acknowledged to be insufficient against any organized threat, and the hull would not survive a sustained engagement either. Rim doctrine treats both facts as the ship's primary tactical advantage: pirates who shoot tankers full of volatile fuel tend not to make it to a second engagement.