Domino
Warden of the Ice
Intent: to create a small ship that alone can't do much but in mass numbers could turn the tide of a battle and negate a 750m ship's 100 turbolaser/ion cannon batteries putting out three times the firepower of a 1,600m destroyer because nothing the BlackSun has can compete with it or a similar ship that might be brought to bear. And I hate number games. Also because I really really want to shout a long, drawn out, 'Frrraaaack yooooooouuuu!' while sending a hoard of these things into an enemy fleet.
Development Thread: none
Manufacturer: Sublight Products Corporation
Model: Trident Interceptor
Affiliation: Black Suns
Modularity: no
Production: 400 at any one time
Material: Durasteel
Description: Stripped to engines, guidance, a single gun and one big honking explosive, the trident is designed to do just one thing, ram into a ship and blow up. An observer could accurately describe these things as an overlarge missile turned into an interceptor, it's small forward profile and blazing speed are it's main defense, the cheep shields just enough to protect the ship from debris and a light hit or two. The single ion cannon is just there to confuse defenders into thinking its just a weird droid fighter while potentially weakening a target's shields or playing merry-hob with its electronics. All of this is in build-up to the main event. The forward two-thirds of the trident (flight sensors and brain taking the rest) are jammed full of a powerful select-core explosive capable of detonating on impact or on proximity to a target. One core is plasma and the other components for a powerful Ion bomb. In flight or stored, neither is loaded into the device as a safety feature, but moments before impact, the droid brain selects on based on the status of its target's shields or operational state, and loads one of the two. The core not selected is harmless in the explosion and has no measurable effect.
More immune to g-forces than flesh pilots, the ship is capable of stunning aerobatic displays that are hard to follow if slightly predictable as each ship is the same and rarely lasts more than a single battle to build up combat data. Still, the Tridents' main target is always capital ships, though a group of tightly packed fighters may quickly find a detonating fire ship in their midst, and most of their efforts are devoted to closing with them. Spacing between the ships and their targets is also carefully monitored to limit fratricide and prevent chain-explosions.
While fully capable of operating on their own, they operate best under guidance from a targeting controller. Otherwise they tend to have poor target choice limited by a set of complicated engagement rules defining what is an acceptable target, what isn't, and target priority.
Classification: Light Interceptor
Role: Fire Ship
Height: .7m
Width: 2.5m
Length: 5m
Power Core Generator/Reactor: Fuel Cells
Hyperdrive Rating: 2
Minimum Crew: Droid Brain
Optimal Crew: Droid Brain
Armaments: Light Ion Cannon (1)
Self-Destruct (1)
Hangar: N/A
Non-Combative Attachments: Ultra light shielding
Multi-band Relay
precision sensors
Precision guidance
Passenger Capacity: 0
Cargo Capacity: N/A
Consumables: 3 days
Sublight Speed and Maneuverability: 1