The Raphael - Archangel Class // Maiden Flight

My interpretation of the Dan Simmons description of the Raphael, the prototype courier starship of Archangel Class for the Pax, which is captained by Father Captain Federico De Soya. Here it is seen on its maiden voyage over Renaissance Vector accompanied by PAX torchships.

From Dan Simmons' 'Endymion':

'De Soya' never considered torchships beautiful...but the archangel is actively ugly in comparison. The courier ship is a mass asymmetrical spheres, dodecahedrons, lash-ons, structural cables, and Hawking-drive mounts, with the passenger cabin the merest of afterthoughts in the center of all that junk'

I therefore wanted to depict its functional - almost inside out with all the 'gubbins' on display' appearance replete with comms blisters and external tanks: that while still echoing the form of the torchships, nonetheless the Raphael is mainly given over to its primary technology, namely the Gideon Drive, which makes up the bulk the ship's visible and physical mass.

From Hyperion Wiki:

The Raphael
'Archangel Class Starships are Pax interstellar spacecraft equipped with Gideon Drive technology that allows them to travel instantaneously between any two points in space. Due to the excessive gravities involved, human occupants cannot survive archangel voyages, and therefore archangel class ships are most commonly employed as uncrewed couriers. However, crewed travel is possible through the use of fugue tanks to contain the remains of born-again Christians until such time as they can be resurrected under medical supervision, or automatic resurrection creches for resurrection beyond the range of medical care.'

Pax
'The Pax was the primary governing body of the human interstellar diaspora following the fall of the Hegemony of Man at the end of the 29th century AD. The Pax was brought into power by the rise of the Roman Catholic Church following the Church's discovery of methods for successful and repeatable resurrection by cruciform, spread throughout humanity as the Sacrament of Holy Resurrection during the reign of Pope Julius VI.'

More images in this series to follow.