AMCO
I'm Sorry Dave
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: A mighty bomber for VCH's Project Galewind.
- Image Source: ArtStation│Juan Novelletto
- Canon Link: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Vandiir Consolidated Holdings
- Affiliation: Closed-Market
- Model: GW-S3 "Archer" Heavy Bomber
Production: Minor
- Material: Duranium-Trimantium Hull, Glasteel Cockpit
- Classification: Heavy Bomber
- Length: 17.2 metres
- Width: 20.2 metres
- Height: 6.7 metres
- Armament: Extreme
[3] Variable Warhead Launchers; 2 Front, 1 Rear. - [3] Variable Ordnance Delivery Chutes
[*]Defences: High
- Multi-Layered Deflector Shield
- Reinforced Duranium-Trimantium Hull
[*]Squadron Count: Low [8]
[*]Manoeuvrability Rating: Very Low
[*]Speed Rating: Low
[*]Hyperdrive Class: Very Slow [6]
STANDARD FEATURES
- Communications Array
- Deflector Shield Generator
- Hyperdrive
- Ion Engines
- Life Support Systems
- Navigational Systems
- Repulsorlift Engines
- Sensor Array
- Landing Gear
- SLAM
- Astromech Socket
- Armageddon: The Archer carries an utterly absurd amount of ordnance, even from a bomber, which it can disgorge with frightening speed and pinpoint accuracy from its warhead launchers and delivery chutes.
- Eight Horsemen: In order to ensure that its devastating payload reaches its destination, the Archer is outfitted with multi-layered shielding and a reinforced hull.
- SLAM: While not normally all that fast, the Archer has been equipped with an advanced SubLight Acceleration Motor for when speed is of the essence.
- Bombardier: Despite the staggering array of ordnance it carries, the Archer has no other weaponry, which means that it will have to use its considerable but limited ordnance supply even when a regular laser bolt would have sufficed.
- SLAM: In order to effectively use its SLAM function, the subsequent power drain will effectively halve its impressive firing rate. Worse yet is the fact that the Archer's poor handling makes the use of this function in close quarters combat risky at best and a veritable death sentence at worst. Furthermore, the added strain on the engines means that utilising this function for more than a few minutes at a time can have unexpected, and potentially catastrophic, consequences.
- Slow Hyperdrive: As with all manned Galewind fighters, the Archer has a fuel-efficient but slow hyperdrive intended primarily for emergencies and short-range jumps.
Versatility from Specialisation.
From the small but capable Lantern to the hulking Vanguard, Project Galewind is defined by its purpose-built models, all of which are designed with overarching synergy in mind. Lacking any real generalists, the Galewind Series' various Starfighters are designed to be fielded together, though individual models are perfectly capable of filling their niche alone, at least if the circumstances are right.
Where the Acrobat is the scalpel, the Archer is the hammer; loaded with a staggering array of ordnance, which can include everything from basic concussion missiles to nefarious chemical bombs, the vessel that would become Galewind's bomber had its origins in the VCH test site known as "Onyx Empyrean". Specialising in the testing and modification of prototype Starfighters, the facility's personnel were some of VCH's best and brightest, with plentiful experience when it came to sorting out glitches and disposing of useless parts.
It was in one of the comfortable break rooms of this facility that a concept was made, a concept that would later be worked on during breaks and in worktime delegated to personal projects until it was sent to a supervisor, who then sent it to VCH's Experimental Engineering Section. Spawned from annoyance regarding the "useless clutter" so often found in VCH's various prototypes, the Archer's design is magnificent in its simplicity; while it is by no means filled with outdated tech, every effort was made to minimise everything that was minimisable, leading to a lack of laser weapons and a poor thrust-to-weight ratio. While this might seem a poor design choice, it left the vessel with an almost unprecedented amount of empty space, space that was summarily filled to bursting with heaps upon heaps of missiles, torpedoes, bombs, and Force knows what else.
Overjoyed with the sheer destructive potential of the design, the EES immediately got to work on a working model, which eventually ended up back at Onyx Empyrean, where the inventive engineers that had once made the concept got to work hammering out its flaws, refreshed after an all-expenses-paid vacation to Zeltros and inspired by a hefty raise.
