Post by The Conman on Apr 5, 2016 16:41:27 GMT -5
Official Name: Bodha (Saber) Mk.VI B
Faction/Affiliation: Miki Boska
Classification: Z-95 Headhunter
Production: 448 ( 384 A/B, 64 T)
Stock/Custom: Custom
Dimensions:
Width: 12 Meters
Length: 11.8 Meters
Manufacturer: Subpro/Boska
Hyper Drive Rating: 2
Crew Necessity: 1
Armament:
Linked Medium Laser Cannons (x2)
Proton Torpedo Launcher (x2, 6 Torpedoes)
4x Hardpoints
Passenger Capacity: N/A
Cargo Capacity: 120kg (internal) 2500kg (external)
Consumables: 1 Day
Hangar Facilities/Starfighter Capacity: N/A
Other:
Ejection Seat
Description/role:
This is the most current incarnation of the Z-95 the Boska use. While, years ago, they started by simply buying Z-95s and modifying them for their uses, this practice ended about 40 years ago. This was for two main reasons. Firstly, the modifications required were becoming excessive, with the engines, sensor suite, most of the instruments, half the maneuvering thrusters, guns, power generation systems and hyperdrives having to be stripped and replaced on brand new ships. This meant that they’d be trying to sell stock Z-95 gear onto a market where it wasn’t really in demand, thus losing considerable amounts of precious credits.
Secondly, Subpro wasn’t keen on selling dozens of them to a mobile group of space twi’leks for cash. Despite the Boska attempting negotiations with the company, they fell apart when the Boska hit a Trandoshan slaver convoy and killed one of the CEO’s cousins. Needless to say, they weren’t welcome back.
The Boska, being the pragmatists they were, realized they needed to keep the supply of Z-95s going, somehow. For a time, they bought them off the open market. This didn’t solve the issue with having to basically hollow them out and fill them up with their own gear, but it did keep the flow of fighters steady. However, the demands of the Clone Wars soon outstripped the supply the market could meet, and costs increased, leading to a radical decision.
They’d copy them.
Right down to the “Sorosub” logo on the rudder pedals, bolt for bolt, and manufacture them on their manufacturing ships within the fleet. No one ship was solely responsible, however final assembly was and is still completed on the pair of carriers the fleet utilizes. This created a craft, initially, that was basically identical to a standard Z-95. Parts would interchange, the ship was built to the Spec the Boska wanted initially with no waste. Over time, however, this would change, with the capture of a crashed Clone Z-95 ( a boutique craft created by Sorosub for the Clone Troopers during the Clone Wars ), buying ARC-170s, and various internal R&D programs, the craft evolved through 6 “marks”.
Marks I and II were essentially identical, save for changes to the fit and finish, the placement of certain controls, things like that. There are no surviving examples, as they were all converted into later versions. Only 4 Mk.I ships were built, and 16 ( an entire squadron ) Mk.II, 4 of which were converted Mk.I ships. As the clone wars progressed, they started producing the first volume run of vessels, the Mk.III series. Prior to Abregado-Rae, these were still in frontline use, as they were, properly flown, able to stand toe to toe with the then-current V-wings the Empire used during it’s early days.
The Mk.III ships comprise three main variants. The A, B, and T. The A variant was the ships as they rolled off the assembly lines, looking like heavily modified Z-95s. The B represented an upgraded sensor package, a more effective G-Compensation system ( still only ~60% effective while pulling negative Ge’s), and a better cockpit layout. By the end of the Clone Wars, most of the squadrons were equipped with Mk.III-B ships. The “T” ship is a trainer, which has been stretched so as to fit a tandem cockpit, it is otherwise identical to the “A” vessel.
Two things happened to spur development of an upgraded fighter. One was the necessity to be on the move and have the fighters increasingly deploy via Hyperspace. Having a carrier “on grid” was more and more of a problem given the Empire’s ability to project force. They had to stay hidden, which meant the fighters would be jumping into combat then back out. The Mk.III’s had Class 3.5 hyperdrives, mainly meant as a last resort. They also didn’t include a navi-computer, which meant manually feeding in jump coordinates to the flight computer, a process that, in a nutshell, means you get killed.
The second was the changing nature of threats and combat the boska were meeting. Due to their new status as a public enemy, they weren’t hitting Hutt forces ( which tended to have older, slower fighters ) but standing toe to toe with TIEs. The Mk.IIIB, while a decent ship in it’s own right, and roughly equivalent to the Clone Z-95s, was woefully outmatched by the early TIEs. Despite skillful piloting, the numbers didn’t lie, they needed a ship that could do better, and soon.
Thusly, about 10 years ago ( 3 years before Abregado-Rae) two projects were started. One was to develop a replacement, which became known as Project Banshee, the other, which didn’t have a flashy name, was to develop an interim solution to shore up the Air Wing against the new threats.
The resulting ship, the Mk.IV, served as a prototype for both vessels, with various systems and weapons that’d wind up on one or the other tested concurrently, to speed development. The rear of the spaceframe was slimmed down, removing the distinctive bulge behind the canopy on the Z-95. This was due to the replacement of the outdated hyperdrive and reactors with a far more modern version, derived from the ARC-170s technology. The engines were dumped, replaced by a pair of fusion-thrust engines, again derived from the ARC-170’s the Boska had purchased ( via a straw man ) after the end of the Clone Wars.
Nearly every piece of equipment was upgraded, new flight computer, torpedo launchers, sensors, etc. A large percentage of it was home grown, copied and iterated on by Boska engineers to produce systems specific to the new ship and it’s role. After a 24 month development, the Mk.IV rolled out, as the Banshee.
The ship was, by far, ahead of it’s time, basically being the X-wing’s baby brother.
The plan was to figure out what on the ship was “production ready” and what wasn’t, and bake whatever was ready to go into a new ship, change out the tooling, and build it, with the intention of upgrading it to the full spec within a few years. Abregado-Rae, however, basically smashed this plan into a zillion pieces. They needed ships, and yesterday. The new plan was to take whatever was tooled up, and stuff it into a Mk.III spaceframe with whatever else was ready to go right then, and keep the resource cost as low as possible.
The result was the Mk.V, which was exactly that, an amalgam of Mk.III and Mk.IV parts. It was a step up from the III, that much was evident, and put the Boska on far more even footing with TIEs than they’d been in the past. It’s offensive punch consisting of 2 of the medium lasers the IV was supposed to have, a pair of torpedo launchers ( albeit, with less torpedos ). It’s shielding system was a far more conventional system. While better than the III, it wasn’t the flying brick the Mk.IV was.
Overall the V did well, with nearly 250 being produced over a 5 year timeline.
As was intended, the V evolved into the VI, as VI's rotated into the fleet from the production floor, V's were removed and refitted and refurbished as VIs, allowing the Boska to reuse existing spaceframes and save resources.
Currently the entire Air Wing consists of Mk.VI ships, with the Squadrons in the process of transitioning to the “B” sub-type. It’s a 60/30 split, with most of the Air Wing still in the older version of the fighters.
Well flown, they’re more than a match for a TIE. They can nearly match it in speed, and while they can’t out turn it, they can out accelerate it. They have FAR more firepower, and sensors, enabling a better first hit probability. The Mk.VI is a better all around ship than the TIE, while it’s not as good a fighter, it’s got a hyperdrive, it’s atmospheric performance is far superior, it has shields, and far more endurance.
Flexibility is also a strong point, it’s hard points being able to carry a myriad of mission specific pods, bombs, rockets, and missiles to help tailor its abilities to the needs of the mission. Typically, they just carry fuel pods to help extend patrols, however bombs, Anti-Shipping missiles, rocket pods ( for ground attack), and jammers aren’t uncommon.
Currently there are 384 A/B fighters in active duty with the boska, comprising 24 squadrons of 16 ships each. 12 Squadrons are stationed on each carrier, as well as 2 training squadrons with a further 32 vessels, per carrier, bringing the total to 448 including the training ships. Parts enough exist to build about another 30. Production capability sits at 40-50 ships per year during wartime production, 15 or less is more common however. The last major run of ships was produced nearly 4 years ago, the last run of parts for stockpiling 2. There is no current production ships/parts, the fleet is focusing it’s efforts on other needs.
Faction/Affiliation: Miki Boska
Classification: Z-95 Headhunter
Production: 448 ( 384 A/B, 64 T)
Stock/Custom: Custom
Dimensions:
Width: 12 Meters
Length: 11.8 Meters
Manufacturer: Subpro/Boska
Hyper Drive Rating: 2
Crew Necessity: 1
Armament:
Linked Medium Laser Cannons (x2)
Proton Torpedo Launcher (x2, 6 Torpedoes)
4x Hardpoints
Passenger Capacity: N/A
Cargo Capacity: 120kg (internal) 2500kg (external)
Consumables: 1 Day
Hangar Facilities/Starfighter Capacity: N/A
Other:
Ejection Seat
Description/role:
This is the most current incarnation of the Z-95 the Boska use. While, years ago, they started by simply buying Z-95s and modifying them for their uses, this practice ended about 40 years ago. This was for two main reasons. Firstly, the modifications required were becoming excessive, with the engines, sensor suite, most of the instruments, half the maneuvering thrusters, guns, power generation systems and hyperdrives having to be stripped and replaced on brand new ships. This meant that they’d be trying to sell stock Z-95 gear onto a market where it wasn’t really in demand, thus losing considerable amounts of precious credits.
Secondly, Subpro wasn’t keen on selling dozens of them to a mobile group of space twi’leks for cash. Despite the Boska attempting negotiations with the company, they fell apart when the Boska hit a Trandoshan slaver convoy and killed one of the CEO’s cousins. Needless to say, they weren’t welcome back.
The Boska, being the pragmatists they were, realized they needed to keep the supply of Z-95s going, somehow. For a time, they bought them off the open market. This didn’t solve the issue with having to basically hollow them out and fill them up with their own gear, but it did keep the flow of fighters steady. However, the demands of the Clone Wars soon outstripped the supply the market could meet, and costs increased, leading to a radical decision.
They’d copy them.
Right down to the “Sorosub” logo on the rudder pedals, bolt for bolt, and manufacture them on their manufacturing ships within the fleet. No one ship was solely responsible, however final assembly was and is still completed on the pair of carriers the fleet utilizes. This created a craft, initially, that was basically identical to a standard Z-95. Parts would interchange, the ship was built to the Spec the Boska wanted initially with no waste. Over time, however, this would change, with the capture of a crashed Clone Z-95 ( a boutique craft created by Sorosub for the Clone Troopers during the Clone Wars ), buying ARC-170s, and various internal R&D programs, the craft evolved through 6 “marks”.
Marks I and II were essentially identical, save for changes to the fit and finish, the placement of certain controls, things like that. There are no surviving examples, as they were all converted into later versions. Only 4 Mk.I ships were built, and 16 ( an entire squadron ) Mk.II, 4 of which were converted Mk.I ships. As the clone wars progressed, they started producing the first volume run of vessels, the Mk.III series. Prior to Abregado-Rae, these were still in frontline use, as they were, properly flown, able to stand toe to toe with the then-current V-wings the Empire used during it’s early days.
The Mk.III ships comprise three main variants. The A, B, and T. The A variant was the ships as they rolled off the assembly lines, looking like heavily modified Z-95s. The B represented an upgraded sensor package, a more effective G-Compensation system ( still only ~60% effective while pulling negative Ge’s), and a better cockpit layout. By the end of the Clone Wars, most of the squadrons were equipped with Mk.III-B ships. The “T” ship is a trainer, which has been stretched so as to fit a tandem cockpit, it is otherwise identical to the “A” vessel.
Two things happened to spur development of an upgraded fighter. One was the necessity to be on the move and have the fighters increasingly deploy via Hyperspace. Having a carrier “on grid” was more and more of a problem given the Empire’s ability to project force. They had to stay hidden, which meant the fighters would be jumping into combat then back out. The Mk.III’s had Class 3.5 hyperdrives, mainly meant as a last resort. They also didn’t include a navi-computer, which meant manually feeding in jump coordinates to the flight computer, a process that, in a nutshell, means you get killed.
The second was the changing nature of threats and combat the boska were meeting. Due to their new status as a public enemy, they weren’t hitting Hutt forces ( which tended to have older, slower fighters ) but standing toe to toe with TIEs. The Mk.IIIB, while a decent ship in it’s own right, and roughly equivalent to the Clone Z-95s, was woefully outmatched by the early TIEs. Despite skillful piloting, the numbers didn’t lie, they needed a ship that could do better, and soon.
Thusly, about 10 years ago ( 3 years before Abregado-Rae) two projects were started. One was to develop a replacement, which became known as Project Banshee, the other, which didn’t have a flashy name, was to develop an interim solution to shore up the Air Wing against the new threats.
The resulting ship, the Mk.IV, served as a prototype for both vessels, with various systems and weapons that’d wind up on one or the other tested concurrently, to speed development. The rear of the spaceframe was slimmed down, removing the distinctive bulge behind the canopy on the Z-95. This was due to the replacement of the outdated hyperdrive and reactors with a far more modern version, derived from the ARC-170s technology. The engines were dumped, replaced by a pair of fusion-thrust engines, again derived from the ARC-170’s the Boska had purchased ( via a straw man ) after the end of the Clone Wars.
Nearly every piece of equipment was upgraded, new flight computer, torpedo launchers, sensors, etc. A large percentage of it was home grown, copied and iterated on by Boska engineers to produce systems specific to the new ship and it’s role. After a 24 month development, the Mk.IV rolled out, as the Banshee.
The ship was, by far, ahead of it’s time, basically being the X-wing’s baby brother.
The plan was to figure out what on the ship was “production ready” and what wasn’t, and bake whatever was ready to go into a new ship, change out the tooling, and build it, with the intention of upgrading it to the full spec within a few years. Abregado-Rae, however, basically smashed this plan into a zillion pieces. They needed ships, and yesterday. The new plan was to take whatever was tooled up, and stuff it into a Mk.III spaceframe with whatever else was ready to go right then, and keep the resource cost as low as possible.
The result was the Mk.V, which was exactly that, an amalgam of Mk.III and Mk.IV parts. It was a step up from the III, that much was evident, and put the Boska on far more even footing with TIEs than they’d been in the past. It’s offensive punch consisting of 2 of the medium lasers the IV was supposed to have, a pair of torpedo launchers ( albeit, with less torpedos ). It’s shielding system was a far more conventional system. While better than the III, it wasn’t the flying brick the Mk.IV was.
Overall the V did well, with nearly 250 being produced over a 5 year timeline.
As was intended, the V evolved into the VI, as VI's rotated into the fleet from the production floor, V's were removed and refitted and refurbished as VIs, allowing the Boska to reuse existing spaceframes and save resources.
Currently the entire Air Wing consists of Mk.VI ships, with the Squadrons in the process of transitioning to the “B” sub-type. It’s a 60/30 split, with most of the Air Wing still in the older version of the fighters.
Well flown, they’re more than a match for a TIE. They can nearly match it in speed, and while they can’t out turn it, they can out accelerate it. They have FAR more firepower, and sensors, enabling a better first hit probability. The Mk.VI is a better all around ship than the TIE, while it’s not as good a fighter, it’s got a hyperdrive, it’s atmospheric performance is far superior, it has shields, and far more endurance.
Flexibility is also a strong point, it’s hard points being able to carry a myriad of mission specific pods, bombs, rockets, and missiles to help tailor its abilities to the needs of the mission. Typically, they just carry fuel pods to help extend patrols, however bombs, Anti-Shipping missiles, rocket pods ( for ground attack), and jammers aren’t uncommon.
Currently there are 384 A/B fighters in active duty with the boska, comprising 24 squadrons of 16 ships each. 12 Squadrons are stationed on each carrier, as well as 2 training squadrons with a further 32 vessels, per carrier, bringing the total to 448 including the training ships. Parts enough exist to build about another 30. Production capability sits at 40-50 ships per year during wartime production, 15 or less is more common however. The last major run of ships was produced nearly 4 years ago, the last run of parts for stockpiling 2. There is no current production ships/parts, the fleet is focusing it’s efforts on other needs.