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The Slave Tube

Used as a convenient way to transport "slaves" in stasis, the slave tube can have both life support systems and small propulsion units. More basic Slave Tubes are simply a protective case which will "contain" / "protect" a violent, dangerous or poisonous species. Expensive tubes have significant travel range and speed as well as rudimentary "fire and forget" navigation systems.

Originally the Slave Tube's drive system was intended as a convenient way to move shipments of slaves short distances from ship to space station, visa-versa, or even into planet orbit for "re-entry delivery" or pick-up. Individual Slave Tubes up to huge numbers could be moved around while being herded by control drones or tractor beams in batches, and a low percentage of loss is experienced by slavers and other licensed hauliers in delivery situations where large slave farm freighters could not enter an area safely. Slaves and Slave Tubes are cheap. Ships are not.

Most Slave Tubes being self-contained low power life support systems they are a very modular and cost effective system for such a dynamic and variable trade, where very basic freighters can be used to transport varying numbers of slaves without the need for complex housing, sanitary or other live stock issues becoming an issue to the ship.

During some interplanetary conflicts intelligence agencies of certain races noticed that Slave Tubes were also being used by some factions to slip spies or assassins into the flow of slaves entering a civilisation's space stations or planet cities. More reputable civilisations were embarrassed to be caught out by spies who recounted being "injected" into a civilisaton this way as many of them had long since outlawed and consequently denied any slaves being in their systems. This was particularly ironic as the primary target for these kinds of attacks are always the rich elite.

More daring pilots have been known to use Slave Tubes as escape / survival pods when their ship was destroyed. Although they would then often run the risk themselves of being picked up by slavers, or having to explain to rescuers and system authorities how they had Slave Tubes in the first place.

Some pirates have been known to lurk in Slave Tubes close to high traffic areas of out lying planet systems, either individually or in groups, to commit acts of piracy on anything from small transports through freighters and even up to capital class ships. This was most often achieved by sending a distress signal and then simply being picked up en-masse and attacking a ship from the inside, or by ejecting from the Slave Tubes when a ship passes close to scan them, and wearing a rudimentary EVA suit with a "hack-comp" module and hacking air-locks to get in.... Although the latter manoeuvre is considered a suicide mission by many and actually rumoured to be a story made up simply to scare pilots on those long nights on the dark side of a moon....