Image Credit: Cosmos by Carl Sagan (http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Carl-Sagan/dp/0345331354)
(http://www.centauri-dreams.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cosmos_jovian.jpg)
Grawlers
Deep Gas Trawlers, or "Grawlers" are the colloquial name for various Ultra High Pressure Airships (UHPA) used for rare-gas collection in the mid to lower strata of gas giants.
Grawlers are the primary vessel of a time honored gas-collection industry, harvesting valuable resources from the dangerous cloud layers of gas giants. Dropped from orbit directly onto the clouds, they typically operate for months at a time with a minimal crew. Grawlers fly by a simple method of buoyancy control, filling or emptying buoyancy tanks with the planet's own atmospheric layers. Fitted with ballast along with a small offering of traditional engines, grawlers merely ride the clouds and currents of gas giants as little more than complicated zeppelins. They are not space capable.
Grawlers make their money off hard-to-get gases found in bulk among the dangerous middle strata of Gas Giants. Most semi-orbital complexes cannot stay anchored that low, so a more mobile and active form of harvesting is required. Grawlers use a cousin technology of Stasis Webifiers called "Energy Nets" to essentially 'scoop' the desired gases together for collection. With a full cargo hold, the grawlers will ascend to higher strata and drop off their take at a nearby semiorbital facility. This process can take days to net any significant quantity, but since there is no industry competition except from other grawlers - the pay is typically very good.
The crew, called "Grawlermen", are some of the hardiest and fearless men and women in the cluster. Grawling is extremely dangerous, as any failure of buoyancy control means the immediate loss of the airship along with everyone on board to the crushing depths of the planet. Danger comes not just in the threat of sinking, but also the constant toxic and explosive storms that rage across the surface of Gas Giants.
Talented grawler captains can typically understand the lay of their chosen planet by heart. Bordering on the mystic, they say each planet has its own personality that must be respected and understood. The clouds can swallow any man or ship, and only by cooperating with the weather can one hope to survive it - nevermind navigate and harvest it. This is true to a surprising degree, as Gas Giants do exhibit somewhat specific and predictable climate patterns. Ignorance of these patterns can often lead to the quick and brutal demise of novice grawler crews.
"You gotta know [the] storms, man. You gotta feel them, like a wom'n. Gotta know [the gas giant] layout, what she like, what she don't like. I seen it all. She shown me. Blackeyes, redeyes, whities, cyclones. Sweet spot's where ya wanna be. Blue strips are nice. Gotta stay 'way from the cakes though, they change breath too quick on ya... find y'self upside down 'fore you know it. Yeah. You gotta know her good."
Grawlermen come from the same stout demographics as capsuleer starship crews. Unfortunately, the life expectancy of a grawlerman is not much better, at only ten years of work. Thousands of tragic accidents happen every year for various reasons, most of them simple human error. Despite, or perhaps because of, the extreme risks grawlermen face, they are often seen as blue-collar heroes by many. In the Federation, the popular documentary/reality holovision series called "Deadliest Cloud" follows the lives and trials of several grawlers and their crews as they work the gas giant of Mies V. Through twelve seasons, over two hundred episodes, and the loss of two camera crews to accidents - the show has garnered some of the highest consistent ratings in HV history, along with several awards. It currently boasts almost half a billion viewers.
The thundering clouds of gas giants are unforgiving and unpredictable, yet to this day they still remain a glittering goldmine for many. It is likely they will continue to be for a very long time.