Darkstar Specifications

Class: 03-K64-C Firefly (Cerberus Variant)

Type: Class B Combat-Capable Mid-Bulk Transport

Main Drive: Experimental Plutonium-Radion Hyper-Accelerator Drive Core

Power Plant: 2 Custom-Crafted Matter Compression Blocks

Additional Power: 40 RCS Thrusters

Registration: U.A.P/Hera

Owner of Record: Captain Raziel Tyler

Registry Number: 43-K-2.1 - (01)

Registration Markings: None

Notable Markings: Black 5-Pointed Star on Nameplate, Black Hull

Home Port: Asteroid KAZ-2Y5, Motherlode Asteroid Belt

Contractors:
Allied Spacecraft Corporation, Osiris
Firefly Ship Works, Hera
Metalstorm Weapons, Beaumonde
Blue Sun Corporation, Londinium
Mandel & Earls Ltd. Londinium

Manufacturers' Model Number: 50 Mark IV

Hull Number: Z-01

Keel Laid: December 2507

Length (Overall): 300'-0"
Width (Overall): 170'-0"
Height (Overall): 80'-0" (Landing Gear Extended)

Main Hull:
L: 290'-0"
W: 68'-10"
H: 76'-5"
Wingspan: 112'-4" (To Engine Mounts)

Main Engines:
L: 62'-8"
W: 28'-4"
H: 29'-6"

Weight (Empty): 190,000 lbs.
Weight (Maximum Takeoff): 600,000 lbs.
Max. Payload: 250,000 lbs. (Excluding Fuel and Ship Ammunition)
Accommodation: 5 Crew Cabins, 9 Passenger Dorms

Standard Acceleration: 4.5 G
Hard Burn: 9.5 G
Max Airspeed: 15,000 mph
Max Speed in Space: 670,000,000 mph
Range (Max. Fuel): 1,000 A.U.
Range (Max. Payload): 400 A.U.

Standard Equipment:
1x Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Shuttle (for cargo too large for the Raptor or Mule)
1x MF-830 Flying Mule (Standard Firefly Equipment)
1x Boeing-Hennessey Veloci-Raptor Flying Cargo Truck (Southunder's personal vehicle)
1x Lockheed-Nissan GTR-71 Flying Car (Raziel's personal vehicle)
2x Docking Grappler Launchers (For landing on uneven terrain, or for more unconventional purposes)
6x Self-Powered Transmitter Buoys (Decoy navigational tracers)
2x High-Powered Cloaking Field Emitters (For when extreme stealth is needed, the ship is rendered invisible to all instruments, and even to the naked eye)

Weapons:
12x 500-Pounder Shell-Firing Rail Guns (High-explosive shells)
20x Air-to-Air Missiles
20x Exo-Atmospheric Missiles
20x Air-to-Surface Bombs
1x Hydra-Class Cannon (Ship Destroyer)

Defenses:
1x EMP Mine Launcher (Fries electrics)
1x Explosive Mine Launcher (Self-explanatory)
2x Orbital Turrets (Activate if the ship suffers a catastrophic failure, and protect it from attacks)
1x EMP Nuke (Only to be used as an absolute last resort, because it will permanently destroy any electrical systems within the blast radius)
1x Flare Gun (For distress signals)

Crew:
Captain/Pilot: Raziel Tyler
First Officer/Co-Pilot: Bex Grant
Second Officer/Security: Jonathon Southunder
Mechanic: Sol Nightingale
Medic: Robert Cassan
Cook: Alexander Fontaine
Shepherdess/Security: Eve Adamsdottir

Ship's Description

The Darkstar is unique, as it is the very first ship of its kind. In the year 2503, the Allied Spacecraft Corporation partnered up with the Firefly Ship Works factory to create an experimental starship.

The project's aim was to create the first starship governed and guided by a fully-functioning Artificial Intelligence program. The Alliance undertook this project as a way to combat the Independents' superior pilots. The Firefly-Class was chosen for this project because of the model's durability, customisation options, and numerous other design advantages.
The result: The creation of the artificial intelligence was a success. in 2507, the program, known as ARIA, was installed in a Cerberus-Variant Firefly, an experimental, combat-capable version of the iconic starship. This ship would eventually come to be the Darkstar.

However, towards its final phases, the project went awry. As the Firefly hosting ARIA neared its completion on the production line, the AI suffered a cognitive meltdown, and triggered a catastrophic failure throughout the whole factory. All other Fireflies still on the production line were infected with a corrupted copy of the ARIA program, rendering them useless for the project.
Rather than fixing their mistake, the Alliance simply chose to cover it up. After ARIA destroyed the Ship Works' mainframe, the Blue Sun Corporation moved in. They seized all the complete Fireflies and shut down the Ship Works, leaving thousands of Herans (people of Hera) jobless and homeless. The Ship Works were left in a state of disrepair, until Raziel Tyler unwittingly stole the most advanced ship in the 'Verse, re-starting the Ship Works' production lines in the process...