Starfighter

Starfighter
by Ben McSweeney
Type	Spacecraft
Universe	Skyward Universe

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A Starfighter is a spaceworthy fighter plane. A number of different starfighters are in production by the machines of Igneous Cavern:

Mechanical Systems

Boosters

Central boosters are necessary for a ship to be able to fly quickly, regular boosters can be found in junkyards and on hovercars, but grade-A central boosters can only be found on DDF military tech.

Types

Rig informs Spensa that an A-17 through A-32 central booster would fit in M-Bot.

After the sanitation worker comes in and talks to their class, Spensa asks Rig what type of central booster is used on the current version of Poco-class starships. Rig immediately responds that it is an A-19 booster.

Maneuvering Systems

Acclivity Ring

An acclivity ring is a ring made of acclivity stone, a powerful substance that acts as anti-gravity when powered.

DDF, Krell, and the orbital debris field use one or more acclivity rings to keep their ships in the air. They allow a ship to remain in the air even if the ship is motionless. These rings are very rare and their amount basically limits how many fighters human can utilize. Therefore, the salvage and recovery of these rings is one of Admiral Ironside's top worries and priorities.

Acclivity rings can be rotated to stop out of control dives, as well as advanced maneuvering.^{[citation needed]}

As well as on ships, smaller acclivity rings are used for vehicles like hovercars and hoverbikes. They are also used as tools to assist lifting and handling heavier objects: such as the maintenance gear Spensa uses on M-Bot.

Several acclivity rings can be used in conjunction to lift something larger, like the orbital ship yards.

Atmospheric Scoop

Demonstration of how Atmospheric Scoop functions by Ben McSweeney

Whether there is atmosphere makes significant difference in flying techniques. Although starfighters can fly in space, in atmosphere, they have atmospheric scoops to reduce wind resistance and wings to provide extra lift and maneuverability.

GravCaps

GravCaps, or gravitational capacitors, are a main functional part of DDF Starfighters, allowing for more maneuverability than would otherwise be possible.{cite} When making sharp turns, the GravCaps prevent gravitational force from affecting the pilot for about 2 seconds, allowing more flexibility than would otherwise be possible. While accelerating, the G-force produced can easily crush the pilot, so starfighters are equipped with GravCaps, which can absorb it to an extent of several seconds.^{[clarification needed]}

M-Bot is noted to have superior GravCaps than DDF ships.^{[citation needed]}

Weaponry Systems

Destructors

The Destructor is a weapon used by the DDF and the Krell to damage and destroy enemy ships^{[citation needed]}. Depending on the sequence of buttons pressed, the Destructor can fire a single projectile or a burst volley. The buttons can be held to charge and fire a concentrated beam.

A destructor is an energy beam weapon, and the primary means to shoot down enemy vessels. One shot of it would be enough to take down a fighter if it hit the right spot, but it can be blocked by force-fields generated by shield igniters. Krell ships have both superior destructors and shields, so while it usually need six-nine shots to disable the shield of a Krell fighter, it requires only three for a DDF ship.^{[citation needed]} However, DDF ships have two advantages: the light-lance used for grappling and IMP that can disable enemy shields.^[expand]

Inverted Magellan Pulse

The Inverted Magellan Pulse is a weapon used by the DDF to disable the Krell starship shields.

The Inverted Magellan Pulse (IMP) emanates from the ship, instead of being fired like other weapons. When used, it has a radius of fifty feet, neutralizing all shields, including those on the user's own ship. This leave all ships in range vulnerable for a time, until they fire up their shields again^{[citation needed]}. This is useful for team fighting, where one ship neutralizes a shield, and their wingmate picks off the vulnerable Krell ship.

The Krell do not have this technology, giving the DDF an advantage. It is unknown how old the technology is, as both M-Bot and the DDF fighter ships have this capability^{[citation needed]}.

Light-Lance

A Light-lance is a weapon and tool used by the DDF and M-Bot to grapple to debris or other ships, allowing slingshot maneuvers otherwise impossible, rescue maneuvers, and other maneuvers to drag debris into Krell ships.

It functions by shooting a beam of light at the target, attaching the two until the pilot releases them.^{[citation needed]}

It is described as a larger, more powerful version of the light-line.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

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