User:TrueSith'ari/Strike bombers

undefined The Nosorog class was a heavy assault bomber craft of the Reborn True Sith Empire. Unlike the nimble and quick Gavran class fighters, these units are dedicated anti-capital ship destroyers. Relatively large, slow and unwieldy, these bombers are nonthless a terror to all types of large space-faring vessels, thanks to their triple-linked long range torpedo launchers equipped with a customized version of the already lethal shield bypassing Power-flechette graviton torpedo, this one lacking an on-board target tracking computer for a 50% higher explosive yield, and 25% faster speed compared to the standard version used by RTSE capital ships, relying on the bomber's own target acquisition array to guide the torpedo to its target. While this necessitates that the bomber maintains a constant target-lock on the enemy ship to insure the torpedo hits the target, the extra damage yield and faster speed are well worth that small disadvantage. With enough long-range torpedo striking power to take down an enemy battleship sized capital vessel, the Nosorog is a prime target of enemy fighters and point-defence units, and requires powerful defence systems to insure it survives long enough to deliver its deadly payload. To this end, these bombers are equipped with a powerful and rapid-recharging shield system, and their hulls sheathed in RTSE reactive armour. This allows them to usually withstand sustained enemy fighter attacks for their escort fighters to neutralize the attackers, or survive capital ship point-defence fire long enough to deploy their payload, and possibly even long enough to escape back to their carrier alive. Like the Gavran fighters, the Nosorog bombers lack any kind of external transparisteel viewport, their cockpits and most of the hull sheathed in reactive armour for maximum possible protection, relying on internal panoramic visual displays for navigation and target acquisiton. Unlike the fighters, however, these craft have a sensor array specifically designed for long-range target acquisition and tracking, and are somewhat deficient in effectively tracking smaller targets at close range. This affects the accuracy of their autotracking defence laser turrets, which is partially compensated by the turrets' high rate of fire. Nontheless, the Nosorog is relatively ill-prepared to defend itself against a determined fighter attack, and needs adequate escort to insure its survival in high-intensity combat. If that can be assured, and if enemy point-defence assets are sufficiently thinned out, a wing of these bombers from a single RTSE Karas carrier can annihilate an entire enemy battlegroup of heavy capital warships, as they demonstrated graphically in the battle of the Akates System, claiming many dozens of NEF, TEC and SE capital warships. In addition, while primarily a long-range tactical bomber, the Nosorog can also deliver a devastating short-range pounding to lighter enemy cruiser class warships, with its 6 fire-linked mini concussion missile launcher pods, the capacity of each pod twice that of the Gavran class fighter, or tear apart in a second any fighter unlucky enough to fly directly in front of this bomber. Despite the unquestionable effectiveness of these craft, they are decidedly unpopular in most of the RTSE pilot corps, since most Sith pilots consider themselves warriors first, preferring to engage the enemy in mortal combat in an agile Gavran fighter. However, since a pilot must demonstrate adequate skill and ability to be granted one of those, the pilots who fall short of that requirement are assigned to the bomber squadrons, where their lack of dogfighting skill is not an issue. Even so, the arrogant fighter pilots have no choice but to gape in awe every time one of their "lesser" bomber brethren destroys an enemy capital warship all by themselves. In the RTSE pilot corps, this rivalry between fighter and bomber pilots has long since became something of a tradition.

Appearances

 * Dawnbreaker EP2: Shattered Worlds