Swordfish Mono Racer

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Spacecraft Registry
Swordfish II Mono Racer Class
Swordfish.png
An unidentified Swordfish making a pass over Europa
Spacecraft Characteristics
Base HullBased off the Swordfish II from Cowboy Bebop
Drive TypeSpeed type aero spike engine.
Drive Rating0.11c
Armament
  • 30mm railgun
  • Four 12.7mm machine or coilguns
  • Wingtip multi-use hardpoints
PurposeAttack/Interceptor/Racer
Primary Crew1 pilot
Other Crewnone
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A former Boskonian fighter design based off the Swordfish II Mono Racer of Cowboy Bebop fame. Designed as a counter to the Fen's F-EZig with the firepower to even be a threat to larger ships. The first prototype and blueprints were captured from a Boskonian base late in the war.

Following the canon weapon setup besides the plasma cannon which was replaced with a railgun. Mounting four internal machinegun/coilguns located in sealed bays within the nose, and one turret-mounted slow-firing 30mm railgun[1] attached to the ventral side of the fuselage for anti-armor work. Most of the spacecraft is built rugged and only the cockpit capsule is pressurized.

The design retains the 'spaceship in a spaceship' of the Cowboy Bebop version with the cockpit pod being it's own jettisonable gravity drive powered, if unarmed, capsule. The stock life support is good for two days average for the complete craft. While the cockpit capsule has half-a-day worth of built in life support system.

The biggest change happens to be how the wings fold for storage. Instead of folding up and off centered, they fold back along the body much like the 'dane US Navy's E-2C Hawkeye 2000, leaving the cockpit capsule locking ring and hatch operable even when stored.

One of the drawbacks of the design is its expense compared to the much cheaper F-EZig. The two have even been compared to the difference between a jeep and a tank.

Currently both the 'civilian' and 'military' are being produced by John Henry as a Build-to-Order item.

Variants

Size comparison of a Swordfish and a Bolitho.

Civilian Mono Racer

The civilian version forgoes the weapon layout altogether, replacing the turret mount with a streamlined hull and larger engine, giving it a higher speed while retaining the armor setup to protect against micrometeorites. The biggest difference is the instrument setup: the civilian version has been streamlined for racing over everything else. Otherwise it retains a lot of the same parts as a stock military version barring after-market mods.

Drive Rating: 0.115c

Class Quirks

  • Curse you F-EZig! CURSE YOU!: The Swordfish II gains a minor boost to performance when in the presence of F-EZigs, but still not enough to catch one in a straight chase.
  • Got a bounty?: Playing the opening theme of the "Big Shot" show from Cowboy Bebop is required for starting the engines.
  • I wanna go fast!: The Swordfish II remembers its days of racing even if it's never seen a race and preforms best when the pilot has the throttle wide open.
  • Hey look, a dime!: The Swordfish II is a S/VTOL craft (capable of taking off or landing with very little runway), more than seemingly reasonable for a eight-ton craft.

Trivia

The turret ball can be replaced with storage, sensors, single drone of different types, paired 12.7mm machine/coilguns, or just left off all together.

Standard life support is good for two days of straight use.

The Swordfish II is actually two spacecraft in one. The cockpit is also its own self-contained capsule complete with a small gravity drive and half-a-day of life support.

Notes

  1. A large number of orders leave off the railgun in favor of ether a streamlined hull or a different attachment.