The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Ataru-class gunship

Ataru-class gunship

Description
The Ataru-class gunship was the first deep-space capable vessel produced by the Yanibar Guard. Though relatively small and exceedingly cramped, it represented a significant technological leap forward for the fledgling arms company Kraechar Arms. The wedge-shaped gunship was designed with being able to inflict damage on much larger ships with its dozen proton-torpedo launchers. As such, laser weaponry was somewhat limited, though two Shoto starfighters were routinely kept docked on each Ataru to help fend off starfighters.

One key feature of the Ataru-class was its sensor profile. Thanks to the addition of passive sensor countermeasures, some conceived by Sarth Kraen and some by Freedom's Sons consultants, the Ataru-class was much harder to detect than other ships its size. While its concealment was nothing compared to a full-scale cloaking device, the passive sensing allowed to close with hostile warships and unleash a crippling volley of torpedoes.

However, while designed partly as a patrol and escort craft, the Ataru-class was underwhelming in that role due to the fact that powerful sensors would mitigate its sensor-damping. As an escort, it was underwhelming as its proton torpedo launchers could only fire forward and required reloading before firing. It also lacked the shielding and point-defense weapons to serve as an escort vessel and the added sensor stealthing and small power plant meant that it had slow sublight acceleration and maneuverability. It was best deployed as an advance scout or a flanking warship; in fleet engagements, Atarus were typically concealed behind larger warships as they became available, moving into position to fire off volleys of torpedoes, then slipping away from the brunt of the battle. This role was further augmented by the deployment of long-ranged stealthy Nighthawk cruise missiles.

The interior of an Ataru-class gunship was cramped and uncomfortable due to the amount of systems, equipment, and capability crammed into the ship. Heavily automated systems were employed to reduce crew size and therefore increase its operational duration due to lower consumables. This left the ship vulnerable to heavy ion bombardment. Due to strains on the undersized power plant, the ships were always dimly lit except when in spacedock and power consumption was carefully monitored.

Special consideration had to be made for the large number of proton torpedoes&mdash;any kind of explosion could be devastating on such a small ship. Kraechar Arms engineers constructed special ammunition magazines that ejected the ordnance into space in the event of a magazine breach.

The crew complement was a mere 24, including two pilots for the starfighters. An additional four marines were stationed aboard each gunship in case of boarding actions and each Ataru-class had room for eight additional passengers, which was exactly the size of a Yanibar Guard infantry squad. Four droidekas were also kept onboard for security reasons.

History
The first Ataru-class gunship, Serra Keto, was launched in 11 BBY, with the second ship, Skipper, following suit a year later. By 9 BBY, four of the ships were in service, patrolling space around Yanibar with the help of Freedom's Sons's warships and the new Wan-Shen-class transports. Even as Kraechar Arms frantically tried to produce more warships, the existing ones spent almost as much time in the repair dock having mechanical problems fixed than they did on patrol. This sapped away at the resources of the gunships and prevented them from being fully operational until a year or two after their initial launch. Constant modernizations were needed throughout the career of all the Atarus, and out of all the Yanibar Guard warships, the Atarus soaked the most repair and upgrade resources.

9 BBY also saw the first action for the gunships, as two of them, Bairdon Jace and Skipper, participated in a raid on a slaving ship over Toola that saw the slavers utterly destroyed and the captive Whiphid slaves freed. 9 BBY also saw the Serra Keto recover a Yanibar Guard commando team from a strike against a notorious criminal on Smuggler's Run. The same ship later visited Nar Shaddaa to fire Nighthawk missiles for the first time in combat against a Black Sun vigo's space station destroying it from extremely long range.

While the ships served admirably in the covert strike and close-in assault department, their abilities against fighters and in sustained fights were extremely limited, particularly given their lack of durability and speed. As such, the Makashi-class frigate was developed to supplant them, allowing the Atarus to focus on covert patrols and stand-off attack missions, along with fleet support, instead of being sandwiched into the awkward role of fleet escort.

In 0 BBY, the Serra Keto retrieved an infiltration team from another mission against an Imperial Star Destroyer and bombarded it with Nighthawk missiles in a surprise attack that damaged the warship severely.

Four years later, Ataru-class gunships saw action in the Drexel system against the Empire, helping defeat the Victory-class Star Destroyer Suppressor. A full dozen of the ships were in service by this time, and helped defend Yanibar from the Zann Consortium's invasion in 5 ABY. The torpedo volleys from the gunships were instrumental in knocking out one of Zann's capital ships in the opening minutes of the battle. The hostile fleet was defeated, though at the cost of several ships, including the Ataru-class gunship Jurokk. The rest of the gunships managed to survive with varying levels of battle damage.

Following the invasion, Ataru-class gunships continued to serve in the Yanibar Guard Fleet for years afterward.

Appearances

 * Hard Code
 * Force Exile IV: Guardian
 * Yanibar Guard Sourcebook