Giant Ray

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Revision as of 22:09, 11 February 2007 by Captain Hesperus (talk | contribs)
Ray Police Cruiser
Commie BigRay.png
Size (metres, W×H×L) 245 x 83 x 268
Cargo capacity 15 TC
Cargo bay extension Unknown
Maximum speed 0.325 LM
Manoeuvrability Roll: 0.28
Pitch: 0.12
Energy banks 14
Energy recharge rate Unknown
Gun mounts 2 Fore, 2 Aft
1 Dorsal, 1 Ventral
Missile slots Unknown
Shield boosters available Available
Military shields available Available
Hyperspace capable Yes
OXP or standard OXP
Available to player No
Base price Unknown

Origins

Like great lumbering predators, the Giant Rays trawl the outermost regions of Communist systems and inter planetary space, seeking out Thargoids and other enemies of the State that exist in the trackless regions of Witchspace. These great vessels have their origins with the much smaller Ray Mark I multi-role fighters. Once the Rays had been proven in battle and the various branches of the Communist State civil defense had been issued with them, the military petitioned the State to begin research into a larger command vessel for their new military fleet. Something that, like the Ray, would be economical, efficient, yet also a large and visible image of the strength of the Communist industrial and military machine. Needless to say many Communist leaders were swayed by these arguements and the same minds that envisioned the Ray reconvened and turned out the slightly unimaginatively named Giant Ray.

Tactical Advantage

Such immense vessels rarely have the speed or manoeuvrability to effectively use conventional laser weapons, so instead the Giant Ray was built mounting a formidable array of Twin Plasma Cannon turrets. Two turrets were placed in the vessel's forward arc and two in the aft, while a ventral and dorsal turret took the job of defending not just the flanks and the vulnerable back and belly of the beast, but could also traverse to lend fire to the turrets fore and aft. With such an armament, the Giant Ray can easily fight similar sized vessels with some degree of confidence especially when it has a squadron of Military Rays protecting it from much swifter enemy fighters.