XM001 Gellmar Drone Carrier and Haoph AstroFighter

Xygritt Matriarchy

12 Fighters and the Drone Carrier (two versions supplied: with one version 12 fighters slung, one empty)

Gellmar Drone Carrier

      The Gellmar Drone Carrier is specifically designed as a transport vessel to carry Haoph AstroFighters over short FTL distances from the Matriarchy’s favoured large carriers and starbases, increasing their range.

      The Gellmar carries the fighters on racks underneath the hull. This necessitates that the Gellmar itself must have a carrier vessel; for while the Gellmar can function independently, the Haophs require a proper hangar for pilot access and to be re-fuelled or maintained. (Haophs are sufficiently fragile that almost any damage causes the loss of the craft, so “repair” is rarely among the tasks.)

      This somewhat bizarre design decision is one that is politically motivated. The Matriarchy is unwilling to allow males to pilot any craft without supervision, believing that the male would flee (perhaps to a neighbouring power) if their fighters were FTL capable. (This is an entirely founded fear.) However, they are also unwilling to give up the additional mobility an FTL fighter brings, and hence the compromise.

    The Gellmar itself is more than a transport, but works with the Haophs from range to assist in destroying enemy shields with its a spinal-mount lazer cannon. It is well-shielded for a vessel of its size, but only has few point-defence weapons, granting it only a rating 60 on the Xygritt’s scale.



Haoph AstroFighter

      The Haoph AstroFighter is the Matriarchy’s most numerous fighters. It is little more than a pair of lazers strapped to an engine, with a bare-minimum approach to pilot comfort and function. The fighter lacks and shields or armour, nor even is it particularly agile. It does not carry either form of FTL drive.

      This approach means that Haoph is an extremely cheap vessel to manufacture. The design has changed little in the past two hundred years, with only a few avionics and weapon upgrades. The Haoph is dangerous only in a massed attack – and then only because of sheer numbers.

      The Haoph is piloted exclusively by low-ranking males and is considered essentially disposable and subsequently, pilot training is minimal. Even so, it is standard practise to ensure Haoph pilots are pumped full of drugs, including a more specialised version of Xamphat, which induces a state of euphoria but reducing – but unfortunately not eliminating – the normal side-effects of lethargy and drowsiness, but also increases aggression. The drug is injected at launch and a more severe dose injected when the fighting actually begins, to ensure the males fight. This effect means that the Haoph pilots tend to be sloppy and reckless and often hard to command once combat has begun, making the fighter’s weakness even more apparent.

   Despite these enormous shortcomings, the Haoph is still favoured by the Matriarchy’s elders and remains in constant production.