Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide an up to date starfighter for the open market, particularly for pirates and others who have difficultly getting "modern" designs
- Image Source: here
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: CorelliSpace
- Affiliation: Open-Market
- Model: Zerek Zenith-series Starfighter
- Production: Mass-Produced.
- Material: durasteel frame, durasteel armor, typical starship components
- Classification: Starfighter
- Length: 12 meters
- Width: 6 meters
- Height: 2.5 meters
- Armament: Average
- 2 Wingtip HLC-14 Heavy Laser Cannons
- 1 Mercybringer Ion Missile Launcher
- 1 PX-4 Proton Torpedo Launcher
- Defenses: Low
- durasteel hull
- PulseScreen Quick-Recharge Shield
- Screamer Active Jammer
- Squadron Count: Average: 12
- Maneuverability Rating: High
- Speed Rating: Average
- Hyperdrive: Yes
- Hyperdrive Class: x1
- LpL-449 Navigation Computer (substandard navigation system)
- Standard Communications Array
- Standard Hyperdrive
- Standard Life Support Systems
- Standard Repulsorlift Engines
- Standard Sensor Array
- Can Enter Atmosphere and Land
ADVANCED SYSTEMS
- STAR-94 Engine System
- PulseScreen Quick-Recharge Shield
- Screamer Active Jammer
- T-s9a Targeting Computer
- Maneuverable: The Zenith is a fairly nimble dogfighter, with engines particularly tuned in order to allow it to quickly perform barrel rolls, enabling it to suddenly evade enemy fire or potentially cause a pursuing enemy to overshoot.
- Sharpshooter: All of the Zenith's weapons have a longer range than the typical starfighter weapon, which combined with the T-s9a targeting computer, allow the Zenith to accurately strike targets from a distance or during complex maneuvers that make the most of the starfighter's unusually good maneuverability.
- Weak Shielding: The Zenith has fairly weak shielding for a ship its size, which makes it particularly vulnerable to heavier starfighter weapons.
- Limited Navigation: Much of the Zenith's avionics budget went to its advanced targeting computer, and to make up for that price, the Zenith use a small and cheap navigation computer, which only has memory to store enough navigation data for two hyperspace jumps.
The Zerek Zenith is CorelliSpace's reimagining of the venerable Z-95 Headhunter and one of its primary sales products to its less than reputable clientele. Unlike its predecessor, the Zenith is actually a fairly agile craft because of its finely tuned STAR-94 engines, light build, and very responsive controls. Most pilots report that the Zenith is surprisingly pleasant to fly if it a little bit more fragile than expected. Its lightly built nature is augmented by a shield generator, though this has a relatively low maximum shield strength that is sometimes offset by its unusually quick recharge time. A very basic sensor jammer has been added specifically to spoof warheads that seem to be particularly effective against its light shielding. Many pilots counter this weakness by exploiting the Zenith's maneuverability to simply evade attacks, with its ability to barrel roll being particularly useful in suddenly getting out of the way of enemy fire. More offensive minded pilots simply use the Zenith's long range weaponry to start damaging and destroying similarly sized foes before they can even get in weapons range of the Zenith. While its heavy laser cannons and proton torpedo launcher aren't particularly unusual choices for a superiority starfighter, many people are surprised by the inclusion of an ion missile launcher. According to official company literature, this allows the Zenith to adequately stand up against the latest and most expensive starfighters on the galaxy by disabling their high tech components. Unofficially, it is well understood in the Outer Rim that it's used to not only knock out many starfighter's shield systems in a single hit, but to rapidly disable craft for capture by pirates and other less than reputable users.
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