Spaceship blog 9
Raid ship
The old pirate clans of the Fringe were the first who built these vessels.
Raid ships are much smaller than Corvettes; one hundred meters long and forty meters wide. These sturdy, stealthy vessels are designed solely for one sole purpose – pirating. To achieve and profit from a successful raid, one requires a starship with spacious cargo hold, multiple grappling arms, and fast, supercharged engines.
This vessel sports token few weapons and the furtive Clanners use them only in self-defense or to help disable their target in preparation for boarding. After all, who’d want their prize riddled with holes, and loot blasted to pieces in its cargo hold?
For pirate clans, the very act of boarding starships is considered a religious act.
It is a very violent, deadly prayer, offered to Holy darkness so the most worthy of their star warriors would traverse the void between the ships, alive.
“Each pirate Clan has their ancient Raid ship design, which they consider holy.”
To perform a successful boarding operation, the pirates employ tried and tested stealth tactics. All raid ships without exception, are constructed from composite, stealth alloys. Those would rarely reflect sensor rays and some of the high-quality materials even “eat” them, denying their pray the ability to detect their approach.
To further mask their presence, Raid ship engine assemblies are fitted with “mufflers.” Those scrub their engine ionized plasma trail and disperse some of the generated heat.
Raid ships always carry tough as nails, well-equipped boarding teams of star warriors. The vessel can deploy its warriors via assault pods from long range and if needed, from multiple attack vectors. Unfortunately for the Clanners, Terran colonists, and especially those who serve in the CN, highly value those ships.
“The raid ship is often employed by CN forces in groups called Raid wings.”
When CN star troopers capture one of these ships, the vessel is given a complete makeover. Terrans remove its useless (to them) massive breaching pod launcher, its multiple grappling arms, and redesign its internal systems to fit more weapon mounts. The stealth systems are then augmented by installing additional composite armor-plating, which further decreases the craft’s already low sensor profile.
Raid Wings are formed exclusively by these re-designed, upgraded pirate ships.
Terran raid ships carry four automatic, rapid firing torpedo launchers, and their two main gun turrets are equipped with twin forty or fifty millimeter railguns. However, the craft has one main weak point and this is its poor point defense capabilities. There is hardly any space left after the remodeling which is why Terran raid ships sport only four pulse laser cannons. Therefore, when possible, CN pair their Raid Wings with escorts, who complement their lack of point defense armaments.
In battle, CN raid ships act in a manner reminiscent of how submarines did during Earth’s world wars. They make use of their superior stealth and covertly approach a target, lock their torpedoes, and then fire from outside their enemies’ range.
Often their crews employ a tactic called cold or dead torpedo drop; torpedoes can be programmed and left in on “prowling mode,” engaging any enemy target that enters in their detection range.
While CN battlegroups launch relentless attacks against the enemy, Raid Wings gradually surround, and then pick off the damaged capital ships. Some launch decoy drones to flood enemy sensor screens with ghost targets, while the rest of their wing executes yet another torpedo run.
The raid ships use their devastating rotary railguns only when all long-range ordinance has been launched. Firing from ambush, these guns can cut most small warships in two, and inflict severe damage to well-armored frigates.
All ammunition spent, Terran Raid Wings become one with the dark of space. They would lurk their way back to the nearest Minarchy starbase or colony, restock on fuel and load new ordinance. Oftentimes they’d strike at an enemy mere hours after their last attack, forging the illusion of superior numbers and nigh inexhaustible ammunition reserves...
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Scout Fighters Starfighters Strike Craft Interceptors Space Shuttle Escape Pod Modular Ships Escort ships Corvettes
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Twin Suns Of Carrola - Starshatter book 2
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Final Liberation - Starshatter book 6
Princes Of The Stars - Starshatter book 7
A Mandate Of Sword And Railgun - Starshatter story anthology 1
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