Firehawk Gunship
Craft: Nammurg Aerospace Ltd.'s Firehawk-Class Heavy Gunship
Type: Archaic Heavy Assault Gunship
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 45 meters
Skill: Starfighter Piloting
Crew: 1
Passengers: none
Cargo Capacity: 250 kilograms
Consumables: 1 week
Hyperdrive: none
Hyperdrive Backup: none
Nav Computer: N/A
Cost: 69,000 (Used) Can fetch as much as 2.5 million if in mint condition
Maneuverability: 1D+2
Space: 6
Atmosphere: 330; 950 kmh
Hull: 5D+1
Shields: none
Sensors
Passive: 20/0D
Scan: 40/1D
Search: 60/2D
Focus: 3/3D
Weapons:
30mm 7-Barreled Gatling Rail Gun
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: Pilot
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D+1
Space Range: 3-15/35/75
Atmosphere Range: 300-1.5/3.5/7.5 km
Damage: 4D+1 (300 30-round bursts)
24 Plasma Missiles
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: Pilot
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 5D
Space Range: 10-75/120/175
Atmosphere Range: 1-10/30/60 km
Damage: 10D+2
4 Heavy Fusion Bombs
Scale: Capital
Fire Arc: Forward
Crew: Pilot
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 3D
Space Range: N/A
Atmosphere Range: Laser-Guided Free
Fall
Damage: 12D
4 Fire-Linked 50mm Gauss Autocannons
Fire Arc: Forward
Crew: Pilot
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 1D+2
Space Range: 5-20/47/100
Atmosphere Range: 500-2/4.7/10 km
Damage: 8D (40 3-Round Bursts [Each
Autocannon has a 120 round magazine])
2 125mm Mass Drivers
Scale: Capital
Fire Arc: Forward
Crew: Pilot
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 1D+1
Space Range: 7.5-30/60/120
Atmosphere Range: 750-3/6/12 km
Damage: 3D+1 (30 rounds per gun [Note
that these cannons are NOT fire-linked])
Capsule: This relic of the Clone Wars was technically out-dated over
a thousand years before that conflict shook the galaxy. With it's archaic
electromagnetic mass driver technology the Firehawks would seem to be out
of place and hopelessly out-matched by today's fighters. Nothing could
be further from the truth! Originally constructed well over 2 thousand
years ago by the enigmatic and now extinct Nammurg, this sturdy gunship
was built to defend the Nammurg against the encroachment of the Mandalorian
Raiding Tribes and did it's job with frightening effectiveness earning
it the nickname "Chi'ap Stokor'bali" from the Mandalore which in their
language means "Flying Demon of Earth and Flame". The Firehawk gunships
lived up to that name, being able to deal out unprecedented levels of destruction
and being faster and more maneuverable than most snubfighters of it's day.
This is most impressive since it's primary mission was not the dogfighting
space combat that most snubfighters are built for. Instead it was meant
to fight it's way through enemy cover fire and deliver devastating bomb
and missile attacks to shatter enemy ground formations and hardened bunkers.
It's four fusion bombs are still some of the most awesome weapons ever
mounted on a vessel of it's size. The Firehawk's 125mm mass drivers even
allowed it to make sustained attacks on enemy capital ships, though the
gunship's relatively weak hull limited it's ability to withstand retaliatory
strikes from capital ships. However against other craft of it's class it's
armor was unmatched. With a hull over 6 centimeters thick in most places
it could all but ignore weapons fire from snubfighters and could even endure
light artillery barrages. The incredible range of it's weapons let it stand
off at range in most fire-fight situations and blast away at the enemy
for several seconds before it's opponents could return fire. This ability
coupled with the vessel's incredibly destructive weaponry would often lead
to opposing fighters being completely destroyed before they could even
begin to return fire. By today's standards the old Firehawk's are hopelessly
outdated but many historians agree that it stands as a shining example
of galactic society forgetting what it already knew. The plasma missiles
that it carried are far more destructive and have a much greater range
than today's proton torpedoes and have only been abandoned due to the maintenance
and care required to keep the warheads viable and the danger of a lucky
shot by the enemy gang-firing the missiles and destroying the entire vessel.
Also the idea of having weapons with the penetration and power of the 2
125mm mass drivers on modern craft of similar size would strike many as
ridiculous and impossible, and yet it was both plausible and very possible
in this 2,000 year old relic. The archaic gauss weapons technology that
produced three of the 5 weapons systems on this craft are all but impossible
to recreate with modern technology due to the fact that no one has bothered
to try since the technology became obsolete thousands of years ago. Even
in it's day the use of such weaponry was regarded as the mark of a primitive
culture. While most remaining Firehawk's are battle-scarred veterans of
hundreds of conflicts a cache of 240 of these vessels was recently unearthed
by a free trader on the burned-out husk of the Nammurg homeworld and are
currently on the market to wealthy collectors and museums. About half of
them have yet to be purchased and the sale price for them has been dramatically
reduced since the trader managed to become a millionaire through the sale
of the first half of the battlecraft. Apparently this is one of those few
space tramps who really meant it when he said that he just wanted to make
the big time and then rest on his laurels. In any event the trader has
retired and is currently picking and choosing who he sells his remaining
ships to and tailoring the prices to the individuals. Large organizations
tend to be charged much more than private individuals and one privateer
has reported purchasing a full squadron of the craft for an even million
credits. Who or what eventually comes to own the remaining craft remains
to be seen
Historian's Note: The Nammurg survived their wars with the Mandalore
but were apparently exterminated by another race that at the time was completely
unknown. The Nammurg lived in an area of space that even today is largely
uncharted but records clearly described their destroyers. Until recently
no known race matched the description of the Nammurg's killers but a race
of genocidal murderers known as the Charon were discovered by then-rebel
forces during the time of the Galactic Empire and almost perfectly match
Nammurg records. Whether or not the Charon were truly the beings who wiped
the Nammurg from the universe or not is still in debate in some circles
but most historians agree that the Charon are indeed the murderers of the
Nammurg race.
Designer's Note: Before I get flames and arguments from various Armchair
Admirals on the possible existence of so powerful a ship so long ago in
the Star Wars timeline I'd like to remind everyone that Star Wars technology
apparently moves along at a mere fraction of real world technology because
Star Wars assumes a galactic society of millions (yes, millions!) of different
cultures all trying to get along in a sort of Interstellar U.N. type environment.
Now this all changed with the rise of Palpatine and the Empire but until
the Empire came along galactic society has stagnated. If nothing else the
Empire sparked technological innovation in a group culture that had almost
forgotten how to innovate. The Nammurg lived in an extremely violent part
of the galaxy and were a naturally technical minded species. Between the
constant conflict they experienced and their natural aptitudes it's no
wonder they developed the ships they did. Consider the technological gap
between Russia at the turn of the century and the rest of Europe and you
start to see what I mean. Russia had been at relative peace for centuries
(I don't consider Napoleon's attempts to invade Russia as significant since
the Russians simply ran until winter hit and let nature take it's course.)
and had fallen into decadence for it. The rest of Europe, on the other
hand, was at least a century ahead of Russia in terms of technology. As
to the assertion that some of the Firehawk's technology can no longer be
duplicated, I give you this: With all our wonderful microprocessorized
gadgets we cannot today build or duplicate the turrets and main guns of
the Iowa-Class Battleships. And while missiles and rockets may be the way
of the future there's a REASON that the old Iowas were dragged out of mothballs
for service in the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf Wars. No non-nuclear projectile
on Earth can match the sheer destructive firepower of 9 16 inch high explosive
warheads fired from the three triple-gunned turrets of an Iowa. And we
can't build them anymore.
The Firehawk was designed by Mad Rabbit <madrabbit@netdoor.com>,
and has been slightly modified with the author's permission for inclusion
on this webpage.