Restricted Ship BSV-01 "Newt"-Class Bakuran Interceptor

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BSV-01 "NEWT"-CLASS BAKURAN INTERCEPTOR​


AFFILIATION
Open Market

MANUFACTURER
Bakuran shipyards

CLASS
Starfighter

ROLE
Aerospace superiority starfighter
Carrier-based patrol ship
Racer and courier

COMPOSITION
Doonium and transparisteel

DIMENSIONS
Length - 7,5 meters

CREW
1-2

PASSENGER CAPACITY
N/A

CARGO CAPACITY
80 Kilograms

CONSUMABLES
5 standard days


SPEED/MANEUVERABILITY
The Newt has a top speed of 125 MGLT and has excellent maneuvering characteristics.




ARMAMENT (only for the military variant)

EQUIPMENT


DESCRIPTION​

The Newt-class interceptor appeared in the decades after the war with the First Order, as Bakura adapted to a splintered but war-free galaxy. Without the military protection of the powerhouses like the Empire or the New Republic, it was once again solely up to Bakuran Defense Fleet to protect the populace.

As the playing field changed, the scale of potential problems also diminished. An attack by a Star Destroyer was no longer an imminent threat. It was more about pirates preying on the traders at the end of a hyperspace route. Occasionally, those pirates and smugglers would even slip through the planet's defense grid. Bakura responded with a ship that could protect her skies and go "above and beyond". Initially stationed at the military spaceports, BDF Newts had to be able to quickly take to the sky, pursue the threat to the edges of the system, and disable or eliminate it.

Everything else was tailored to that purpose. Bakura's inherent mistrust for droids made astromech socket the first sacrifice. Instead, the ship was fitted with a ventral laser turret and the seat for the second pilot. Although the ship and all its weaponry can be controlled by each pilot, it takes two to make the most of it. While one controls the ship, the other aims the laser turret—which was often replaced with a light ion turret on BDF Newts—and handles ship's systems. A single pilot can still make use of the turret as a fixed-mount weapon, with 2 selectable states: facing forward or facing backwards.

Another sacrifice was the hyperdrive: it was simply unnecessary and expensive for Newt's tasks. The decision increased the interceptor's speed, decreased its cost, and allowed for a more sophisticated propulsion systems. Built-in Bakuran repulsors even allowed the ship to hover while in atmosphere. Although the ship's maneuvering thrusters weren't strong enough to efficiently dodge sideways mid-air, the repulsors allowed for an equivalent of a cobra maneuver even without changing the angle of attack.

The interceptor gained it a sizeable niche as an export to other backwater worlds that needed a cheap solution to the same problems. Newts were built en masse—a mistake that would catch up with the shipwrights decades later, once Bakura's interests expanded to the neighboring systems. Unable to reach them, the interceptor was now deemed insufficient for Bakura's goals. This forced the BDF to either employ hyperdrive booster rings, or deploy their numerous Newts from hyperspace-capable carriers, until a better ship could be found. That was a challenge, because Newts did good in their original role.

Still, the BDF decreased orders in favor of procuring carriers for the existing Newts. That forced Bakuran Shipyards to look for other avenues, lest they'd end up with the ships that nobody bought. The solution was simple: they stripped some of the newer Newts of their weapons, left the spotlight and recording equipment in place of the turret, and dubbed the model BSV-01C. The ship was then offered to the rich who could afford it: as a way to get from A to B as fast and stylish as possible, or as a way to fly a ship similar to the BDF. The station in orbit of Bakura has since then made a business of renting out hyperdrive booster rings to those who need to take their unarmed Newts to other systems. If one could put their hands on a Class 1 Hyperdrive Booster Ring, they'd end up with an ultra-fast and ultra-light courier.

Diminutively called "Butter Newt" (after a primitive species native to Bakura) by those who couldn't afford it, the civilian modification gained popularity with the richer part of Bakuran society. Soon, the fire services requested a modification that replaced the payload and the turret with a deluge gun: a perfect choice to protect namana tree plantations from wildfires. Ambulance Newts swapped the second pilot for a bacta chamber or gurney to transport emergency patints. The elite lauded "Butter Newt" for speed; the news outlets—for the hover mode and the recording equipment.

Only the speed demons didn't laud the new ship; they just made use of everything it had to the fullest, while trying to outrun BSV-01P Police Newts. They were the same as military ones, but without the missiles and with slight optional upgrades: police sirens: a medium laser cannon turret replaced with a light ion cannon turret; a spot for the prisoner, separated from the main pilot's seat by a transparisteel window. In that case, there wouldn't be the second pilot, and the turret would only fire in 2 pre-set directions: forward or backwards.

It took the establishment of regular and official racing events to end the speed spree that endangered Bakura's airspace. Ironically, the daredevil pilots often survived the crashes: the ship's durable cockpit doubled as an escape pod. So, unless it was a head-on collision at full-speed, they often had enough time to hit "Eject", separate the cockpit from the explosive part of the ship, and let the pod's thrusters and repulsors break the fall.


LEGALITY​

Restricted. The armed Newt-class interceptors are military vehicles, and are subject to extra licensing requirements and increased scrutiny by authorities. The weaponless "Butter Newt" modification is legal, and is classified as an ultra-light courier. Scanners easily tell the armed and the unarmed variants apart.


RESTRICTIONS​

Due to the complexity of the ship's propulsion and repulsor systems, it cannot accept fusial afterburners and military-grade maneuvering jets.

This page lists possible flavour modifications which are specific to this ship (for example: removed weapons or missiles; a spotlight + recording equipment / deluge gun; sirens; a spot for the prisoner; a bacta tank). You're welcome to use the ones that make sense for your character; but if you are using any of them, they must be explicitly listed next to the ship in your character profile. Alternatively, if you do a generic tech write-up for your ship, you can list the modifications there.


INTENT​

To create a versatile and capable ship that isn't too powerful, but offers some customization opportunities and fun underused mechanics (hyperspace booster ring, turret). Also, to flesh out Bakura's lore and technology. The way I see it, the Newt fills a niche somewhere between an airspeeder and an interceptor.
 
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