Devil
Class: Medium Fighter
Operators: Free Traders
Mass: 142 tons
Cost: 3,030,700 talents
Engines:
Right Engine Rating (1,000)
Left Engine Rating (1,000)
Thrust: 7
Weapons:
Type (Location)
1 5/1 Laser (R Wing)
1 5/1 Laser (L Wing)
1 EPC-14 (Bow)
1 MDC-10 (Bow)
1 Safeguard-1 (Bow)
1 Hardpoint (Bow)
Crew: 1
Passengers: 0
Marines: 0
Extras:
Overview
The Devil is a medium fighter that private Commonwealth companies are supplying to the military forces of Trader's Paradise. Because this world has a limited industrial capacity, its factories concentrate on the production of consumer goods for the indigenous population and on exportable, high value/low mass items such as industrial grade diamonds and luxury foodstuffs. Military equipment for the planetary forces must usually be imported.
Until recently, the TOG military had supplied Trader's Paradise with its military hardware needs. The Imperial Navy and Legions have also supplied officers to train the native troops to use the equipment and to oversee its tactical deployment. In many cases, TOG officers lent their expertise to these backward people by actually commanding the fighter squadrons protecting the planet. These arrangements ensured the proper handling of the weapons and that they would not be used against TOG forces.
In 6821, some native soldiers nominally commanded by TOG officers carried out an abortive military coup on Trader's Paradise. This led to all TOG military advisers being expelled from the planet. The Lictor were able to prove conclusively that the rebellion was a Renegade plot, but to no avail. In retaliation for the expulsion, TOG halted the export of military hardware to Trader's Paradise. Into the void came the greedy merchants of the Commonwealth.
The Devil is designed for easy maintenance so that the primitive and simple-minded native technicians of Trader's Paradise can service the fighter. Most components are modular, and a basic self-testing program in the ship's computer can identify any faulty module and recommend its replacement. It is interesting that the Commonwealth has mounted the Safeguard Anti-Missile System on the Devil. This is a subtle attempt to fill up the fighter with a tactically useless weapons system and degrade the ship's performance, because the Devil's most common enemy, Renegade Legion pirates, rarely use missiles.