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The Rocinante ("Roci") is a former MCRN (Martian Congressional Republic Navy)-turned-independent Corvette-class light frigate capable of multiple combat roles. Originally commissioned as the MCRN Tachi (ECF 270), the ship was stationed aboard the flagship of the Martian navy, the MCRN Donnager. It was renamed by James Holden after he and his crew escaped the Donnager aboard the ship, marking the start of its long and decorated career as an independent warship.
Description
Akin to a narrow, tall building, the ship's construction is layered floor-by-floor from the drive cone and reactor "upwards" to the flight deck and sensor relays. The ship features a storage and engineering deck, machine shop, galley and crew cabins, medical bay, storage deck, crew airlock, command deck and flight deck. Under thrust, g-forces then provide a "downwards" pull amenable to human orientation, simulating gravity.
The Rocinante's normal crew complement was well over a dozen navy personnel and officers, and on many missions the ship would also carry at least six marines. As a Corvette-class frigate, the ship was capable of housing thirty Martian officers and crew during its operation with the MCRN.[2]
Armament
Rocinante possesses numerous advanced Martian weapons systems and materiel, including:
Display of the Rocinante's armament.
- 6✕ Nariman Dynamics 40mm Point Defense Cannons
- 2✕ Torpedo launchers, each with a 10-torpedo capacity
In its service as an independent contract warship, Rocinante was later outfitted with a light keel-mounted railgun, capable of firing 1-kilogram UNN-issue tungsten rounds at approximate 9,980 meters/second.[3]
In addition to the ship's weapon systems, it carries four (visible on ship's console S6 Ep1) reconnaissance drones, of which three respectively named "Peart", "Lee", and "Lifeson".[4]
Crew
Standard crewmembers
The crew of the Rocinante.
- Captain James "Jim" Holden (Seasons 1-6)
- Executive Officer and Chief Engineer Naomi Nagata (Seasons 1-6)
- Pilot Alex Kamal (Seasons 1-5) (deceased)
- Mechanic Amos Burton (Seasons 1-6)
- Assistant Mechanic Clarissa Mao (Season 6)
- Gunner and Pilot Bobbie Draper (Season 6)
Temporary crewmembers
- Star Helix Security Detective Josephus Miller - Temporary during both the Assault on Thoth Station and the Eros Incident.
- MMC Marine Roberta "Bobbie" Draper - Temporary during Io Campaign, and later after the Slow Zone Incident, before eventually becoming part of the main crew during the Free Navy Conflict.
- Botanist Praxideke "Prax" Meng - Temporary crew member until his daughter's rescue.
- UN Undersecretary Chrisjen Avasarala - Temporary during the Io Campaign.
- Pastor Anna Volovodov - Temporary during the Ring Space Incident.
- Espionage agent Kenzo Gabriel - Temporary during the Eros Incident.
- Reporter Monica Stuart - Temporary during the Ring Space Incident.
- Tycho Station Chief of Operations Carlos De Baca - Temporary as a pilot during the early phase of the Free Navy Conflict.
Liveries
The Rocinante has possessed three various liveries between its service with the MCRN as the Tachi and its time as an independent warship, as displayed below:
| MCRN Colors (Season 1) | Beratnas Gas Disguise (Seasons 1-3) | Custom Livery (Seasons 4-6) |
|---|---|---|
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History
“We've gone too far” — CQB
Originally commissioned as the MCRN Tachi, the Corvette was one of Donnager's original assigned escorts when the McCabe and Valenza were replaced with 4 of the new Morrigan-class to improve the battleship's area of control. By the time the Donnager picked up the Canterbury survivors, the Tachi was the only escort docked in the Battleship's hangar bay.
Once the Donnager was boarded in a CQB scenario, Captain Yao ordered Lt. Lopez and some MCR Marines to escort Holden and the other survivors to the Tachi, hoping they would escape and testify that the Martians had nothing to do with the Canterbury's destruction. The bay, however, was swarming with enemy boarders. Amos Burton and Lopez were wounded and the Marines were killed, but Alex Kamal, previously an MCRN pilot, took control of the gunship. Using her PDCs, the Tachi blasted her way out of the hangar and made a getaway at full burn before the Donnager was scuttled.
Back to the Butcher
Once away, the Canterbury survivors received a message from the OPA (Outer Planets Alliance) spokesperson Fred Johnson offering a safe harbor, something that would be hard to find elsewhere as anyone flying a stolen Martian warship would be highly suspect. He also instructed them on how to change the Tachi's transponder codes to avoid long-range detection. Alex enthusiastically suggested naming their new ship "Flamin' Alamo" or "Screamin' Firehawk" to which Holden refused, suggesting the name "Rocinante" instead. Amos agreed, saying a woman named "Rocinante", a Spanish "workhorse", had once been good to him. It is later revealed Holden thought indeed of the horse of Don Quixote. With its new name, the Rocinante headed for Tycho Station.
Rock Bottom
Upon arrival, a brief hostility ensued as it turned out that Johnson planned to commandeer Rocinante for a mission, as he wanted a capable warship in case whatever happened to the Scopuli happened again, but Holden convinced him to hire them to undertake it. Johnson then had the ship disguised as a gas hauler to help them avoid detection and gave the Rocinante's crew their mission; to find Lionel Polanski, one of Fred's operatives from the Scopuli.
Windmills
Not long after getting underway, the Rocinante is spotted by the MCRN Yangste, which then dispatches the Ambedkar, a Morrigan-class patrol destroyer to intercept. Despite Alex's best efforts, the Martians still attempted to board, which would have meant grave consequences once they recognized the stolen warship. Fortunately, Kenzo Gabriel (who had just been caught sending out a rogue signal) informed the Roci's crew that, being a Martian gunship, there would be secret codewords for when they were working in covert ops and needed to be left alone, which Alex confirmed as he recalled an incident he witnessed while serving in the Martian Navy, which involved an unidentifed ship. Having managed to locate and communicate the codewords to the Ambedkar in time, the MCRN ship was satisfied and promtly left the Rocinante alone.
Salvage
Arriving at a lone asteroid, the Rocinante encountered a seemingly inactive stealth ship, found to be the Anubis and the Cant's killer, bound for Eros from Phoebe but never arrived. Docking with an umbilical, Holden, Naomi, Amos, Kenzo, and one of the Roci's drones searched the ship and discovered the Protomolecule at work throughout the ship. Finding that Lionel had escaped in a shuttle docked in the Anubis, Holden ordered Alex to destroy the Anubis with a torpedo, which Alex did gladly as the Rocinante now made its way to Eros.
Leviathan Wakes
The Rocinante escapes from Eros but loses its gas hauler disguise to detach itself from the claws holding it in place.
Doors & Corners
In the Assault on Thoth Station, the Rocinante was released from the OPA Guy Molinari to act as broken off cargo so it could float to the station. As it neared, the station's defending Stealth ship launched missiles at the Guy Molinari but the Rocinante intercepted them and then the two ships engaged in Point Defense Cannon (PDC) fire as they neared each other. The Roci then quickly hugged the habitat ring of the station as protection from the Stealth ship. Eventually, the Roci moved over the habitat ring to attack and destroy both the Stealth ship and an anti-asteroid canon that had destroyed one of the breaching pods.
Home
When Eros moves on its own, the Rocinante chased after it and eventually is used to target lock the asteroid for UN missiles to destroy it. The Roci is then forced to consistently increase its speed to match Eros, endangering the crew in the process. Eventually, Joe Miller convinces the crew to slow down and stop its pursuit of the asteroid.
Caliban's War
During the UN-MCR War, the Rocinante goes after the Hybrid to destroy it but Holden gives up to go protect the Weeping Somnambulist from being blown up over Ganymede and escorts it to safety. The crew then discovered that the Hybrid had gotten onto the ship's cargo section. Holden and Amos try to remove it from the ship but Holden is trapped by a cargo container. The crew eventually manages to get the Hybrid out of the ship and Alex kills it by burning it with the Roci's drive plume.
Fight or Flight
Following the attack by the hybrid, Holden, Alex and Amos are outside the ship burning off traces of the protomolecule from the hull. Naomi tells him that the reactor shielding is intact and nothing critical was damaged. Prax is working on the cargo bay shield. After Holden learns that Earth and Mars are at war, Holden wipes the name Rocinante, as well as the lady, off the hull. Naomi asks Prax for a new name for the ship's transponder, renaming the ship Pinus Contorta, the name of a tree species.
IFF
When the crew of the Roci receives a distress signal from the Razorback which has Deputy undersecretary Chrisjen Avasarala who and Martian Marine Bobbie Draper who are being chased to be assassinated by a UNN Leonidas-class battleship. The Rocinante reaches them in time to destroy the Battleship's missiles with its PDC's which blinds the battleship. The Roci uses this to move directly past the battleship and fire two missiles into its engines sheering two of them clean off and disabling the UNN ship. The Rocinante then docks to the Razorback to help its crew.
Delta-V
Mars sues Rocicorp in both Martian and Earth courts to get the Rocinante back from the Roci Crew. To pay their legal fees, the crew agree to take a film documentary crew to the Sol Ring.
It Reaches Out
Once the Seung Un is blown up, a false broadcast pins this attack on James Holden. The Rocinante is unable to respond to the false information with it being compromised from software installed by the cameraman Cohen, which disabled the ship's communication system. Fearing no way out, Holden tries to contact Proto-Miller, who informs him of how to enter the Ring safely. Then the Behemoth fires upon the Roci, but it goes to the ring and does a flip and burn at full speed. Fortunately, the ship and crew survive when entering into the Ring Space, becoming the first to do so.
Intransigence
With the Rocinante making it through the Ring, it escapes the OPA missile but both are captured and slowed by the Ring Station but are pulled to the center of the Slow Zone.
Abaddon's Gate
The Rocinante is freed from the Ring Space's speed limit thanks to Holden's plan to shut down every ship to make them not a threat to the Ring station. Once everyone is back onboard, the Rocinante weds back to the Sol system.
New Terra
Eighteen months after the Ring Space incident, the Roci has gotten a new black and red paint job for its outer hull. The lawsuit from Mars has since been dropped thanks to Chrisjen Avasarala's help. Before the crew is sent on a mission to Ilus, the Roci goes to Luna to undergo modifications, installing landing legs and a railgun to the ship's bow. Upon arriving to the orbit of the planet, the Roci successfully lands on the surface of Ilus.
Retrograde
As Naomi and Lucia Mazur try to get inside the Rocinante, Murty ambushes them and pins them with gunfire to stop them from reaching the ship. Holden however reaches them in time and uses the Roci's PDCs to get them aboard the ship. Once secured, Naomi, Alex, and Lucia launch from the surface of Ilus to get Lucia away from Murty.
Saeculum
After all fusion reactors stop working over Ilus, the Rocinante has to save the Barbapiccola from entering the planet's atmosphere. To do so, the crew comes up with the idea of attaching both ships with a tether, and to use theRoci's thrusters to keep the Barb in orbit. When executing their plan, the Edward Israel launches its explosives-rigged shuttle at the Roci but Alex manages to destroy it. However, the resulting debris from the destruction damages the Roci and Alex is forced to use the ship's railgun's recoil as a makeshift thruster to keep the Barbapicolla in orbit. They are then saved when Holden shuts down all protomolecule on the planet, allowing every ship's Fusion drive to work again.
Cibola Burn
Alex Kamal reactivates the Rocinante's fusion reactor and targets locks the Edward Israel to keep it from escaping. When Alex is contacted by Holden, the Roci lands where Holden is and picks up the crew and Murtry, who is in custody, to head back to the Sol system.
Exodus
Following the Rocinante's return to the Sol system, it arrived at Tycho Station where it docks to go through major repairs for some time. Chief Engineer Sakai tells Naomi that the ship has major stress fractures and metal fatigue all over the ship following the use of the Roci's railgun to stay in orbit around Ilus.
Down and Out
Naomi, while captive aboard the Pella, discovers that the Rocinante's reactor has been rigged to explode and is able to distract Cyn in order to use his hand terminal to warn Holden just in the nick of time. With the sabotage foiled, Holden, Bull, Monica Steward, and Leveau leave Tycho station to pursue the Zmeya to recover the protomolecule sample.
Oyedeng
When the Zmeya – running engine-less to avoid detection – discovers that it's being shadowed by the Rocinante, it turns to full burn to escape, triggering a pursuit. As the Roci draws closer to the Free Navy ship, the Zmeya launches a barrage of missiles in a helical pattern at the Roci. The Roci is able to destroy a couple of missiles with its own torpedoes and then has to perform a rolling maneuver to take out the remaining missiles with its PDCs. With all the missiles destroyed, Holden activates the Roci's railgun and disables the Zmeya's drives, but as the Roci prepares to board the Free Navy ship, the Zmeya self-destructs.
Nemesis Games
While trying to rescue Naomi, who is trapped inside the Chetzemoka, the Rocinante is confronted by five Free Navy ships. Holden orders to engage the ships to give the Razorback time to save Naomi. Before combat is initiated, Captain Camina Drummer leads a mutiny aboard the Tynan, fires a missile which disables the Dewalt's engines and orders Mowteng to stand down (both ships belonging to her own faction). After this Drummer fires a barrage of missiles at the Koto which are promptly intercepted by the latter's PDCs, however the distracted Koto then is disabled by the Rocinante's railgun. Next, while the Serrio Mal is distracted by the Dewalt's missiles, the Roci destroys the Serrio Mal with six railgun rounds, detonating the ship's reactor. The remaining ships then surrender and the Roci goes to rendezvous with the Razorback to pick up Naomi. The Rocinante then goes to Luna with the surviving crew to meet up with Avasarala and to pickup Amos and Clarissa Mao.
to right of the section title."Strange Dogs"
Six months later, the Rocinante has joined in the fight against Free Navy. While in a recon mission near an asteroid in the Belt, the Roci is ambushed by a Free Navy fighter skiff. They engage it in a short battle, with Holden in the pilot's seat, and he narrowly manage to destroy the skiff before it escapes. The Roci crew then launch a drone to explore the asteroid and discover an Epstein drive strapped to the rock. When Holden goes to investigate it, Naomi then takes over piloting of the Roci for the first time ever since Alex's death. After Holden disables the drive and boards the Roci, Naomi informs the crew of her discovery of where the signals to launch the drive came from a ship called the Azure Dragon. The asteroid is then blown up while the Rocinante burns away.
Media
Trivia
- The ship's name is a reference to Don Quixote's[5] horse. "Rocín"[6] being Spanish for "work horse" or "pack horse", and "ante" meaning "before" or "previously". Thus, "Rocinante" translates roughly to "previously a work horse".[7]
- Alternative source for the name comes from the song Cygnus X-1 Book 1 The Voyage by the band Rush on their 1977 release, A Farewell to Kings. "On my ship, the 'Rocinante', Wheeling through the galaxies, Headed for the heart of Cygnus, Headlong into mystery."
- "Tachi" is a Japanese word and may have the following meaning in a military context: (1) Tachi (太刀) being type of sword predating the Katana. A "tachi" is slender, narrow and light. (2) Tachi (立ち) literally "to rise", "rising up to face battle". In the TV show the crews uniforms show a Chinese "motto" or alternative name for the ships. For the Tachi, it is 首次作战 - "first (time) into battle". The Chinese motto aligns best with meaning (2).
- The three recon drones carried on the ship, "Peart", "Lee", and "Lifeson", are named with the surnames of the Canadian band Rush.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ (Seen onboard in S05E07
- ↑ The Expanse TV Series - Season 1, Episode 6: "Rock Bottom"
- ↑ The Expanse TV Series - Season 4, Episode 9: "Saeculum"
- ↑ "Salvage"
- ↑
Wikipedia: Don Quijote
- ↑ Wiktionary: rocín
- ↑ Wikipedia: Rocinante
- ↑ Wikipedia: Rush (band)
External Links
- syfy.com: The Expanse Concept Art
- steamcommunity.com: 70k scale replica of the Rocinante corvette
- projectrho.com: Rockets Are Not Hotels
- 360° Video Inside the Rocinante on YouTube
syfy.com: 
steamcommunity.com: 
