The Amatsubame-class Runabout is a fast, luxurious sport/racing craft optimized for performance, endurance, and agility.

A luxurious, high-performance sport and racing craft that is fast and agile while remaining comfortable.

Amatsubame-Class Runabout
Front	Rear	Side

Derived from the Mozu-Class Starfighter, this sleek, high-performance craft has been stripped of armor and armaments, but retained the powerful drives and sophisticated systems of the fighter. Another collaboration between Yugumo Fleetworks and Osman Heavy Industries, the first two prototypes were developed and tested in late YE 44 as Orchid Signature models with Umikagami and ELECTRA, to be presents for Motoyoshi Eidan and Motoyoshi Kuroko. However, the craft didn't become available on the open market until early YE 45. Amatsubame (雨燕) means “swift¹⁾” in Yamataigo.

In Yamataigo the Hario (針尾) refers to Hario-Uen (針尾雨燕), known in Trade as the needletail swift, the Yamataian bird with the fastest horizontal flight. This upgrade accelerates more quickly, turns more sharply, and overall is just faster and more maneuverable than even the base Amatsubame. It has custom interior trim and interface paradigms, that emphasize the Hario Edition as the birth of a new racing legacy.

The Hario edition lacks the utility systems of the base model, having had them removed to lessen the mass and increase performance.

The Orchid Signature trim level has both the Hario Edition upgrades as well as the Chairman Upfit Package, as well as a few other special touches. It features exclusive interior trim and design language, and a custom interface paradigm. It maneuvers even more agilely, and accelerates and decelerates even more quickly than even the Hario Edition.

The Orchid Signature retains the utility systems of the base model that are removed in the Hario, making up the performance and then some by more powerful, more sophisticated, and commensurately more expensive systems.

The Amatsubame-class Runabout is ideal for the following mission profiles:

• Very fast sublight travel.
• Leisure and recreation.
• Ship dinghy.
• Racing (Particularly the Hario Edition).

Taking after the Shuriken-class Fighter Drone in terms of profile, the Amatsubame is an angular, slightly-dagger shaped machine with a prominent cockpit window at the front of the fuselage. However, the Amatsubame falls into the Yugumo Fleetworks design ethos with its sleek hull and elegant, yet aggressive nacelles. In its default color scheme, the fighter has a mix of dark blue and black shades, with purple highlights.

The Amamatsubame-class Runabout is a fast, high-performance sport and racing craft optimized for speed and agility.

• Crew: 1 Pilot
• Maximum Capacity: There are accommodations for 1 person. Roughly 2 people can fit aboard in an emergency, but the craft would be extremely cramped.

• Length: 7 Meters (23.59 Feet)
• Width: 7 Meters (23.59 Feet)
• Height: 2.5 meters (8.43 feet)

• Mizu II Series - Ripple II CDD: 18,750c
• Yumeoibito Hyperspace Fold Drive: 0.75 ly/m
• Sublight Hoshi III Series Multi-stage Turbo Plasma Drives and CFS: 0.425c (127,411 km/s), Hario Edition²⁾ 0.45c (134,907 km/s)
• Atmospheric Speed (Hovering via CFS and Anti-Gravity System): 600 km/h, Hario Edition³⁾: 720 km/h
• Maximum Atmospheric Speed: Mach 5, Hario Edition⁴⁾: Mach 5.5
• Range: Unlimited in Theory
• Lifespan: Review Every 10 Years
• Refit Cycle: Every 5 Years or as Needed

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for a guide to damage ratings.

As an unarmored craft, the Amatsubame takes damage as one tier lower than it is. The Orchid Signature is an exception, often piloted by those for whom security is paramount.

• Hull: Tier 7 (Light Mecha), takes damage as Tier 6 (Heavy Armor), except Orchid Signature
• Shields: Tier 7 (Light Mecha)

The Amatsubame-class Runabout is as comfortable as a single-seat racer can get. That is to say that while it does not compare to the comfort of a larger vessel, it is luxurious by the standards of its class.

The single-seat cockpit features a Transparent Durandium canopy with adjustable Omnihue opacity, reflectivity, and tint and volumetric window viewscreen overlay. All functionality of the ship is present in full and control layouts can be customized via SQUID and tactile Solid Volumetrics. The comfortable, ergonomic, multi-adjustable acceleration couch features a cupholder, adjustable armrests, massage, ventilation, lumbar support, SQUID interfaces, and Virtual Home Sleep. The emergency lockers are located in the interior, to either side of the seat.

The following section contains information about the Amatsubame-class Runabout's systems.

The Amatsubame utilizes a primarily Durandium Alloy hull structure. All windows and viewports utilize Transparent Durandium.

The Ameatsubame uses Kaminari Quantum Foam Generators for its primary power system. The supercapacitor banks have enough backup power for 48 hours of minimal operation, 18 hours of moderate-load operation, and no less than 3 hours of intense operation such as high-speed maneuvering or full-power shield deployment.

A Tsuyosa Series Matter-Antimatter Reactor with Matter Collection System provides backup and auxiliary power.

The Amatsubame-class Runabout is equipped with the KAIMON-Passage suite with its included communications, targeting, interface, and sensor systems. It also has the uplink and PANTHEON/SYNC connect module.

It features the Sorakagami Aerospace Operations Suite, with an option for ELECTRA as a software upgrade for qualified operators.

In addtion to its KAIMON Kagami sensors, there are also a Mineral Scanner and SachiTech Tech-Scanner available to the pilot.

The Amatsubame-class Runabout includes the Sorakagami Aerospace Operations Suite integrated from the factory.

The Amatsubami-class Starfighter was built to minimize the effort needed to fit it with the Umikagami Subsurface Operations Suite to enabling a range of sub-aquatic applications. The base Amatsubam does not come with the Umikagami hardware, but it is an available option from the factory, or aftermarket with a zero-configuration, plug and play upgrade path.

The Amatsubame-class Runabout is equipped with Yugumo Standard Emergency Systems and reactive atmospheric force fields in the event of vacuum exposure.. Should the craft's power or communication's systems be inoperable it comes with a built in subspace distress beacon with its own power source, good for 120 hours of continuous operation.

In the event of a catastrophic failure or impending doom, the cockpit doubles as a downsized "Ikigai" Type 43 Escape Pod which can eject from the main body of the craft. As a tertiary measure in the event that the cockpit pod is too damaged to function, the craft has an ejection seat which is equipped with a EM-G19 - Survival Kit.

There is one each of Yugumo Standard Damage Control Alcoves, Yugumo Standard First Aid Lockers, Yugumo Standard Armory, and Yugumo Standard Survival Lockers in the cockpit. However, given the small size of the craft, the lockers contain only a quarter of the supplies and equipment, enough to sustain a single pilot in the event of a calamity. In essence, the lockers are downscaled from their standard variants. There is also a ration locker, which contains enough emergency ration pills for 1 month and a link to the water tap. Alternatively, the ration locker can be retrofitted into a small induction charging locker with spare capacitors for technological android pilots. These are most often used for Consort pilots, but most other android models are compatible as well.

The Amatsubame-Class Runabout is equipped with Yugumo Standard Life Support Systems. The craft also features inertial compensators to protect the pilot from g-forces.

The Amatsubame utilizes a modified Mizu II Series - Nami II CDD which maximizes the CDD performance at 18,750c. Distortion coils are located in the wing pods on both sides of the craft. The CFS can also be used for sublight propulsion, up to 0.425c, or up to 0.45c for the Hario Edition.

In addition to the CDD, the Amatsubame is equipped with two Hoshi III Series Multi-stage Turbo Plasma Drives for sublight speed. They are located in the rear of the ship. Sublight performance for the plasma drives usually can withstand up to 0.375c. Maneuvering Thrusters (ion thrusters) are used primarily for attitude adjustment, docking, and station keeping.

For hyperspace fold, the Amatsubame uses the Yumeoibito Hyperspace Fold Drive.

The Amatsubame also has an Anti-Gravity System for landing and atmospheric operations.

The Amatsubame-Class Runabout ighter's Mizu II Series - Nami II CDD is equipped with a (Civilian) Combined Field System, supplementary shields, and navigational shielding. The primary shields create a conformal or bubble barrier.

For times when the (C)CFS is unavailable or its operation is undesirable such as when sitearium is energized. Running both supplementary defensive systems at the same time does not increase the effective tier of the barrier, rather, they are used against different threats and the responding selected in realtime after threat analysis by the computer. As the supplementary shields do not contribute to the ship's defensive profile when the (C)CFS is active, it is wasteful to have the supplementary shields active while the primary shields are as well.

The Electromagnetic shields are particularly good at deflecting the charged particles in many beam weapons. The shield created is a conformal or bubble barrier.

Gravitic shielding are effective against kinetic weaponry and collisions. This shield also serves the special purpose of counteracting graviton beams. The shield created is a conformal or bubble barrier.

Not intended for, or effective at, defense against starship weaponry, navigational shielding protects the ship against navigational hazards, such as fast-moving small masses and slow collisions with large masses. The deflectors allow for safe maneuvering without raising the profile of its sensor signature as much as the defensive shielding.

The Amatsubame-class Runabout ighter is equipped with landing struts, they are pneumatically driven and are used to raise or lower the craft, and level it once it is in place.

The armor layer is impregnated with an Omnihue matrix, allowing effectively unlimited control over the coloration, pattern, text, and insignia of the surface. This serves as thermoptic camouflage and signature reduction, if set properly.

The Amatsubame's armor, in addition to the Omnihue, has layers of sitearium coating it, that allow for even more effectively reduced signature than the Omnihue alone. Note that when the sitearium is energized, acceleration or maneuvering under power, or moving in an atmosphere, disrupts the signature reduction effect, and any zero-point energy such as QF Generator or Aether Generator onboard must be shut down, switching to supercapacitor banks or more traditional forms of secondary power, or the ship remains detectable by anyone looking for such signatures.

The Amatsubame-class Runabout is unarmed except for the Plasma Projection System.

The Amatsubame may be equipped with a Plasma Projection System array comprising various sizes of emitters. These also serve as secondary engines and maneuvering verniers, increasing the acceleration profile, maximum speed, and maneuverability of the craft. By redirecting power from the plasma system that powers the ship's propulsion, it may use excess weapons limitation capacity, up to a maximum of two Tier Equivalent Weapon Groups⁵⁾ worth of firepower in variably-sized plasma cannons and smaller plasma guns by using magnetic redirection to weaponize the ship's drive and maneuvering engine nozzle output. This negatively impacts the ships acceleration and maneuverability however, forcing power to be diverted from propulsion to weaponry. The effect is increasingly more pronounced the more free capacity that is used in this manner.

Per corporate policy, the Amatsubame-class Runabout may only be sold armed within the Yamatai Star Empire. It is sold commensurately more cheaply if unarmed.

• Plasma Projection System (Up to 2 Tier Equivalent Weapon Groups of Firepower)

• 1 Omnidirectional Scalable Graviton Beam Projector Array
• 1 Small-sized MultiStruct Multitool (very limited storage)
• 1 Harpoon Cable, adapted from the Courier 2c 'Collector', for anchoring and towing.

Yuuki created this article on 2022/10/26 20:43. Approved here as sub article of Mozu-Class Starfighter by Wes. Based on Mozu-Class Starfighter by Immortal Cyan.

Art by Alex Hart.