RF-155

Spacecraft Registry

RF-155-E
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Spacecraft Characteristics
Base Hull	Mig-31
Drive Type	Hybrid bussard turboram
Drive Rating	0.13/0.19
Armament	Varies.
Owner	Asagiri Speedworks
Flag of Record	Crystal Millennium
Faction	Crystal Millennium
Registry Number	155-XXXX
Launched	2014/2023
Purpose	Varies
Primary Crew	1 x Pilot,
Other Crew	1 x Information Systems Operator
Operational Status	Active

To Be King Just Once

Posted to: /r/speedmasters. RE:Those satisfying cockpit moments by: KidOfSpeed77

"Great Justice called it the Foxhound. The Roughriders called the two they bought the Grey Lady's, but the prototype was known by one name and one name only, The Pain in the Arse.

It had all the problems you expected with a prototype and then some. That much technology packed in with powerful drives meant a lot of tweaking to get it right. It really only started to get good after months of flight testing and updates. Even then, keeping the engines, intake ramps, bypass doors and variable inlets all in tune while flying made for very little time to look outside and enjoy the stars. Rarely, if ever, did you feel like you were ahead of the jet - it would alays spit something. But on a good day, it almost made it feel worth it. When they hit their stride, there was nothing like them. It was the polar opposite to the Talons or Blackbird series...

The Taylor Hebert was the first one ordered by SHIELD and we were keen to impress because normally they went to other sources for their gear. We'd taken a hit on the margin just get it made with even tighter tolerances than required, as a golden eagle. The name came from the mod's they asked for, to make it drone compatible, and the fact that one of the bigwigs who came to visit commented that 'it really didn't look like a hero's jet'.

So, we're taking it out on its delivery flight during which we take the chance to shake-down all the systems on the ship, test its software, and finally, a high-speed run just to see if anything would fall apart. Anika had most of her tests done, so she throttled back on the main computers, just to give a little thermal margin.

Now, the the RF-155 was a bit odd as fencraft go. The engines were very highly tuned, compared to the big, gutty engines the roughriders used - they were lighter with a higher power density, but much more overheat prone, and it'd burn a core in maybe half the time at full power. It'd safely cruise in space at anywhere .11 and .14, limited by engine core temperatures, but on the early ones before we really sorted the thermal management of the ejectors on the Block-II's, two of the belly fuel tanks were converted into straight-up coolant tanks. For a mad dash of speed, it was possible to just dump raw liquid coolant straight through the engine, which didn't just let you run hotter temperatures, but it effectively tripled your remass for about 5-10 minutes, depending on throttle settings. Then, the only limit to how fast she'd go is how close you wanted to take the engines to meltdown. The first ten built were complete rocketships.

So, approaching the bright side of Earth I nudge open the taps, working the throttles steadily up to keep the engines from surging or backfiring. It's about judging the right time to open the coolant taps - too late and you overheat, too early and you run out before getting to big numbers. It's all a bit of a dance, making sure the autosystems and engine control computers don't get out of step and she doesn't burp a turbine, but this time, the jet just took off.

Taylor Hebert flew beautifully. Once she started running, she didn't want to stop.

We passed .18 which is what we were rated for as maximum, still with half-tanks of coolant and with turbine temperatures just a squeak below normal. We still had a few cents of reactivity margin to pay before the core reached zero dollars, so I nudged it a little further, flirting with criticality.

We were ten minutes out from Cislunar and just starting to pick up traffic broadcasts, when my ears pick out one

"Stellvia Control, this is the Digamma Thunderbolt, request relative speed check"

Now that's something stations do, both for calibration of navigational systems, star trackers, for the haplessly lost or occasionally people looking for proof that YES, they had gone THAT fast. Stellvia does it for Cislunar - they have a dedicated controller to handle it. And that controller always, always talks like a steely-eyed missileer, just so you know that if you're ever in trouble, help is right there at the end of the mic.

"Digamma Thunderbolt, Stellvia, We show you proceeding at eight point zero zero three percent lightspeed, relative."

"Thank you, Stellvia."

It was the Thank You that proved it, someone was making a speed call just to know they'd hit .08 and have notarised proof.

And that would've been it, if not for the next transmission

"Stellvia Control, This is Tvoyu Mat, request relative speed check."

A Russian accent this time. The controller handled it the exact same way.

"Tvoyu Mat, Stellvia, We show you proceeding at ten point two zero three five percent lightspeed, relative."

Somebody just wanted to show the kid up. The contest had begun.

"Stellvia Control, Archangel 12, request relative speed check."

I curse inside my facemask.... anything on an Archangel callsign is probably a Roughrider in a Habu. And he just had to demonstrate that he was the fatest guy on the block, because that's what these guys love to do. And I know what he thought he was doing....I'd thought the exact same thing.

The response comes back. "Archangel 12, Stellvia, We show you proceeding at fourteen point two zero eight percent lightspeed, relative."

Definitely an early Block II model, at that speed. I sat there in the front seat aching. And having that Sled there would make it so much funnier. Because *everyone's* read *that* story. Shul's a legend, and doing it to a Sled in the Sled's Russian Rival would just be icing y'know.

But the radio's the responsibility of the back-seater on this jet and Anika's not normally one to get involved in dick-waving.

I'm back in the cockpit, watching turbine temperatures finally start to creep up to the point where I have to think about throttling back to keep the engines from melting, when I hear the hiss of an open channel in my helmet.

"Stellvia Control, Khepri 1, request relative speed check"

Calm, controlled, not a hint that she was doing anything more than another calibration. Silence. I risked a glance at our absolute speed gauge, and cursed.

"Khepri 1, Stellvia. We show you proceeding at a velocity of nineteen point six eight seven nine four percent lightspeed, relative."

I think, the sheer level of detail sold it the most - the little nine-four at the end. The same, dispassionate female voice who made all the other calls, who might've been reading out a football score for all the interest it gave her.

"Thank you Stellvia. My navigation system was only showing eight seven two."

I don't know whether Anika did it on purpose, or really was just correcting an error. She never admitted it to me. I hope she did because she gained much pilot respect for it.

Whatever the reason, no further speed calls were heard on that channel until long after we'd pulled the throttles back and started our long turn back towards the moon. One Sled Driver went home with his tail between his legs. We'd challenged the Kings of Speed in a way that begged for a Midnight flypast of Frigga, and we'd be put in our place for sure when Rhodes found out, but for one brief moment, the Mig sat on top.

Of course, then we saw who was waiting for us at Kandor City airport, but that's an entirely different story."

The Basics

A modified mouldline copy of a Mig-31 series spacecraft, fitted with an advanced Phased-Array Interwave Detection and Ranging sensors, then fitted with a pair of brutally powerful engines. The original was designed as a MASINT spacecraft for Great Justice. Rather than using highly advanced and customised computer and sensor hardware, she was adapted to fit starship-grade sensor equipment instead.

Her two engines are based on the Roughriders standard design, but modified to run on something with a little more kick.

The base spaceframe has been adapted to a number of proposed rolls, in the hope that something, somewhere might actually sell.

Variants

• RF-155-E, Riding Hi-Streamer: Protoype built from Mig-31, built for Anika Daini to replace her Little Cool Rider. MASINT variant.
• RF-155-E, Rise and Fall: Test-type. Built for Great Justice evaluation. In service.
• RF-155-E, Rage and Grace: Test-type. Built for Great Justice evaluation. In service.
• RF-155-ED,Taylor Hebert: Test-Type. Built for S.H.I.E.L.D.. With additional drone capacity. MASINT variant.
• RF-155-EK, Theresa Richter: Test-Type. Built for S.H.I.E.L.D.. Additional computer hardware. MASINT variant.
• AF-155-R, Rebecca Brown: Single-seater type built for S.H.I.E.L.D.. Attack fighter variant. Project cancelled, then uncancelled again.
• AF-155-R, Eidolon: Single-seater type desiged but cancelled for S.H.I.E.L.D.. Attack fighter. Adapted to use Valkyrie-type FAST packs.
• AF-155-F, Flechette" Proposed type with anti-shipping railcannon.
• RF-155-GT, Civilian Version. Removed computer systems. Reduced armament capapility. Offered as a fast courier and personal transport.

Common Capabilities

• The Chariot. Machines that reward mastery of their capabilities, at the cost of a cliff-like learning curve.
• I see you. Prototype Phased Array IDAR common to all types, capable of detecting any operating drive signatures. MASINT variants have one of the most advanced sensor arrays ever fitted to a fighter.
• The Air-Battleship: The original Soviet Airforce didn't call them the Air-Battleship for nothering. It probably takes to maneuvering like the Titanic. The majority of its structure is welded steel. On a 'fighter'......
• I can't be cool. If it's anything like its sister's, it'll be prone to getting 'dirty' in that vague and scruffy way, like a post-winter salt Lancia. It's not particularly sleek or exciting to look at. It has never achieved any major victories, nor carried a signature character from a series. If it didn't exist tomorrow, you wouldn't mourn it.

The Engines

It's a bit of an open secret that these things run on Plutonium - even if every post calls it 'Deltalloy'. Specifically, a type of Plutonium that's just a bit too hot to ever be used in a functional bomb. They're smaller, lighter, and run hotter than the standard Roughrider units.

• Block-I Engines require additional coolant injection to reach their top speed, but offer higher acceleration. Until the coolant runs out
• Block-II Engines do not require the injection to sustain maximum speed, but have a lower acceleration with less remass.

Both are available.