Torpedoes

face by debauchery and
the years showed his
age.
The man laughed
cold enough to send
chills up a skeleton’s
spine. “The Utopia’s
been looking for you for
a long time, pretty boy.
You’re even on Luches’s
list of traitors.” The
man seemed distracted
for a moment, reading
some information
flowing across the
bottom of his
comscreen.
“And there’s a handsome
price one your
head.” The man smiled
and stared directly into
the comscreen. “I’ve got
just one thing left to say
to you, loser. My name’s
Endé Akimbo, and I’m
going to carve that on
your grave!”
Newcomb returned
the grin as savagely as
he could, before ending
the contact. “Catch me
if you can, slave-boy!”
Then he broke off his
intercept course and
headed back to rendezvous
with the Porpoise
Squadron on the outskirts
of the black hole.
The other members of
Walrus Squadron fell in
behind him and followed
him toward the
anomaly.
118
Palomar-Lockheed CR5000
(export) “Lance Electra”
Crew: 2
Maneuvering Thrust: 0.12 km/s/s
Mass: 420 tons
Translight Capability: None
Armor: Crysteel w/belt
Atmospheric Capability: None
Armaments:
2 x Protobolt Projectors (Ammo: 4
protobolts each)
1 x Mk. 10 Pulse Laser
1 x Missile Launcher (Magazine: 20
missiles)
2 x Mk. 30 Torp Loads
2 x Mk. 10 Torp Loads
Commentary: Palomar-Lockheed was an
old, but struggling Imperial firm when the
Hatchlings arrived. The Lance Electra was
an attempt to regain status in the fiercely
competitive fighter industry. Unfortunately,
it has never performed up to promised design
specifications, being relatively slow
and lacking combat staying power. Still,
since the design is now in the public domain,
you’re fairly well guaranteed to see
this ship around for some time to come.
Think of the Electra purely as a strike
fighter. Close with the target, unleash two
full spreads of Protobolts and the Mk. 30s,
then “get the hell out of Dodge.” The Missiles
are best used for self-defense while
inbound and outbound from the target. The
low-powered Pulse Laser is only useful
under very limited circumstances—it’s
nothing to be relied upon. The Lance Electra
isn’t keen for a dogfight, so don’t get
embroiled in one.
Imperial Transtar 1220 series
A “Night Hawk”
Crew: 1
Maneuver Thrust: 0.150 km/s/s
Mass: 300 tons
Translight Capability: None
Armor: Crystanium w/belt
Atmospheric Capability: Full
Armaments:
6 x Mk. 10 Splattergun Blast Cannons
1 x Mk. 20 Meld Laser Cannon
Commentary: Transtar’s Night Hawk is the
attrition fighter of choice for nearly every
military force. Its Meld Laser is well
equipped to engage larger vessels, while its
Splatterguns makes short work of enemy
SPAC Fighters at short range. Its design
now in the public domain, the Night Hawk’s
lack of warheads actually works in its favor
in locales where such ordnance is hard to
come by and supply ships may be few and
far between. A strong and persevering craft.
Ah, the Night Hawk! How many players
have that reaction when they discover
they’ll be flying one? It’s those devastating
“Medium + 10” Splatterguns that really get
the adrenaline flowing. The psychological
damage you inflict on your opponent when
you fire this weapon is as important as
shot’s results. But there is a good reason
why the Night Hawk is so cheap—susceptibility
to torp attacks. The Night Hawk’s
Splatterguns force a headlong rush towards
enemy ships, but that is quickly curtailed
by three or four torps dropped head-on at
15–20 hex range. Oddly enough, the best
counter to a Night Hawk is the lowly Thunder
Bird or a pair of Spirit Riders.