Shield Space 7 of many

There are also a number of ministries such as:

C.M.C.  (Center for Monster Control).  The CMC is a government branch that
has a broad range of powers.  While the military acts as a deterrent to
hostilities and can project the will of Shield, the CMC has its own small
army or strike force and overrides even the military in authority.  The job
of the CMC is to track and destroy or regulate monsters in the city-state.
They can enter, open and examine anything, anybody, anywhere at anytime
without apparent reason and they answer only to the council for their
actions.  The CMC also posts bounties for such things as buleat and purple
worm hides.  A full list can be asked for.

C.D.C. (Center for Disease Control) Self-explanatory.  Ships have been known
to be destroyed with all hands on the order of the CDC.  (This is extremely
rare.) Actually, no one when pressed, actually knows directly of a ship
being destroyed for this reason.

C.T.C.   (Center for Tax Collection)           These are the people
responsible for making sure you pay your fair or so share of taxes.

P.W.C (Public Works Center)    Got a pothole in front of your house, think a
section of wall is going to fall, sewers backing up?  These are the people
who fix and repair things.

C.P.C.  (Center for Permits and Certificates)        Need a WAP, Dog
license, Proof of Identity, this is where you get such things from fishing
licenses to Building permits.

C.A.T.   (Center for Alcohol and Tobacco) Taxing, proper preparation, and
distribution are the responsibility of this bunch.  They cover the sale,
quality, distribution and safety of alcohol, smoking products and drugs.

C.W.C. (Center for the Welfare of Cats)   This over-zealous bunch are always
looking for cats to feed, save or rescue from some meanie who will be
prosecuted.

N.A.S.A. (National Astral Spellcraft Administration) This is the agency
responsible for the advancement of SpellJamming science and such.



The Fleet:
Starfleet, as it is called (there seems to be a private joke among the Over
Governor's circle of friends), is comprised of about 12 Starships, 100
capitol ships and 100 other ships as follows:

12 Starships: Enterprise, Lexington, Ticonderoga, Intrepid, Constellation,
Saratoga, Valley Forge, Yorktown, Firedrake, Merrimack, Agamemnon, and
Orion.  These are Shield's capitol war ships.  Each of these ships has an
approximate gross displacement of 1,000 tons.  (The Agamemnon has a
displacement of about 4,000 tons)  (Or 100,000 cubic yards or a cylinder 90
feet across by 450 feet long, this is about one forth the size of the USS
Nimitz.  A Virginia Class Attack Submarine is about 13,000 cubic yards)  The
actual shape is more of a flattened oval 60 feet high by 100 feet wide by
500 feet long sloping to a beveled edge/ram in front and slightly rounded
back.  These ships contain enough air internally to support 300 people for
one month and the outer air envelope 6 times that.



10 Wreckers: These are spindly ships weighing about 5 tons.  They are
designed to grapple with damaged ships and fly away with them.



20 Pod or Mule ships: These again are about 5 tons but are designed to mate
with 1 or 2 cargo pods.  Cargo containers come in different sizes and can
lock to each other to form the equivalent of one full sized pod that
displaces 45 tons or 4500 cubic yards configured to be 32 feet wide, 18 feet
high and 208 feet long (A standard box car is 8 by 9 by 52 feet, thus a pod
is comprised of 24 containers) and can be grappled from any side by a mule.
There are also troop transport modules, water tankers, ore hauler modules,
etc.



41 Destroyers: Each of these ships has a gross displacement of 100 tons and
has been standardized to reduce construction and maintenance costs.  With a
cross section of a flatted octagon, they are 145 feet long, 40 feet high and
60 feet wide with a blunt chisel front end/ram.



4 Deep Exploration vessels: These are essentially Destroyers with a cargo
bay and some extra crew quarters.  Some weapon systems have been removed due
too space considerations.  Landing gear for dry land has also been added.



15 picket ships:  These are 25-ton patrol ships designed to scout and act as
an early warning system.



The balance of Shield's ships are based on minor helms and are used in the
day to day needs of Shields military as follows:


50 Patrol ships:  These are 50-ton general service craft that are used to
provide a number of duties such as patrol, light cargo transport, and
forwarding (mostly mail).  These ships are armed and carry a small
complement of troops.  Most of these ships patrol the Grinder to try to keep
abreast of developments and discourage pirates.



30 Armed cargo:  These 50 ton ships that are designed to move cargo in
relative safely.



 20 Escort:  These are 50 ton war ships specifically designed to escort
merchant vessels right to the edge of the Sphere.

As a point of interest, all of Shields capitol warships (except Starships)
are run by Major Helms.  Most of these helms were taken from the Elven fleet
that had been pulverised by Starfleet some time ago.  As Shield acquires
additional Major helms, current ships will be upgraded or more ships will be
built depending on the need.  (As a point of interest, there are six
completed Destroyers at Norfolk waiting for Major Helms.)

There are a number of private or company owned, domestic and foreign
SpellJammers as well.  These come in all sorts of sizes and are designed to
suit a variety of tasks from bulk transport to pleasure craft.  Most ships
of this nature tend to have Minor Helms.  The Shield government is always
willing to pay top dollar for major helms but most who own such helms to not
wish to part with them as they may find themselves blacklisted by the
arcane.

Tonnage and helms: A Spelljammer ton is a measure of volume, not weight.
The amount of actual mass does not seem to matter greatly.  One ton is equal
to 100 cubic yards.  In the real world, gross tonnage is the measure of
volume but it is 100 cubic feet.  Thus, a Spelljammer ton is 27 times larger
by volume.
Methane breather or Starship helms can move a ship in excess of 1000 tons or
100,000 cubic yards
Major helms can move a ship up to 100 tons or 10,000 cubic yards
Minor and tactical helms can move a ship up to 50 tons or 5,000 cubic yards.