Safa Ship Catalog · Chapter 5

Racers, Fighters and Boarding Craft

Safa's small craft are launched from a parent ship and fly one sortie: a race, a strike, a boarding. None has a Slipstream Drive, and all three are built for speed over comfort.

S2 Courier-Racer

A Blade-and-Keel courier-racer in 2 versions: S2, S2.1.

The S2 is a courier-racer, a Scale 2 courier skiff built around a Safa reactor and almost nothing else. One pilot sits in a narrow canopy over an engine that is most of the craft. It runs the Caliphate's licensed circuit races and carries sealed dispatches inside one system, where the Karmin Line pays for hours and not for tonnes.

Builder Benefit (Safa). Full Signature benefits apply to a Safa system in a Safa hull: guided attacks add a Boon Die, point defense reads one higher, the reactor counts one higher for overload, and the security, electronic warfare and cyberdefense systems take their Bane Dice. Chapter 4 has the rules.

Small craft. The S2 has no Slipstream Drive. It travels between systems aboard a parent ship and works within one system for as long as its Endurance lasts (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Seventeen).

Model Trait: Sprint Reactor (S2, S2.1). Once per encounter, the pilot may count Speed as 1 higher for one round. The craft gains 2 Heat.

Factory Packages. S2 and S2.1: None. Empty slots: 1.

Version notes. S2. Sold with its one Module Slot empty; most owners fit a Counter-Surveillance Suite or a Medical Bay (the Vehicles Manual, Chapter Ten, lists every module a Scale 2 hull can take). The Sprint Reactor spends the reactor's headroom in one burst. S2.1. A longer, gold-edged engine housing and an extended afterfin: Speed 6, the Professional cap. The extra thrust is paid for in fuel: Endurance falls from 18 hours to 12.

Common Variants. Circuit racer, Dispatch courier, Sealed-pouch runner, Pilot trainer.

Version Table

Version	Change	Price	Acquisition	Upgrade from previous
Safa S2	First version	125,700cr	Licensed	n/a
Safa S2.1	+1 Speed (Professional cap), Endurance 18 hours to 12	133,100cr	Licensed	8 points, 13,000cr

Talon Heavy Fighter

A Blade-and-Keel heavy fighter in 2 versions: Talon, Talon 1.1.

The Talon is a Talon Series heavy fighter, Safa's strike craft: a Standard mount on a Safa-pattern spine with an antimatter engine behind it. A Talon is launched from a carrier, fires and withdraws. It has no Module Slots because the airframe is the mount, and it lands only in an emergency.

Builder Benefit (Safa). Full Signature benefits apply to a Safa system in a Safa hull: guided attacks add a Boon Die, point defense reads one higher, the reactor counts one higher for overload, and the security, electronic warfare and cyberdefense systems take their Bane Dice. Chapter 4 has the rules.

Small craft. The Talon has no Slipstream Drive and carries 12 hours of Endurance. A carrier that leaves the system while its Talons are out has left them behind (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Fifteen, Carried Craft).

Model Trait: Arsenal Spine (Talon, Talon 1.1). The Standard mount sits on a Safa-pattern spine, which is why the airframe has no module slots and lands only in an emergency. For salvage, repair, and resale the mount is an experimental installation (Chapter Ten), and only a Safa-certified yard services it.

Factory Packages. Talon and Talon 1.1: None. Empty slots: 0.

Version notes. Talon. The Vehicles Manual's heavy fighter, unchanged. Cruise 4 is the hull's one above-standard system and is Restricted, which is why every Talon is. Talon 1.1. A thicker dorsal spine plate and a second gold seam along the spine: one more Hull Point and one more System Point. It is the same craft in a heavier skin.

Common Variants. Strike fighter, Guided-attack fighter, Interdiction fighter, Escort fighter.

Version Table

Version	Change	Price	Acquisition	Upgrade from previous
Talon	Published first version	299,700cr	Restricted	n/a
Talon 1.1	+1 Hull Point, +1 System Point	312,000cr	Restricted	8 points, 22,100cr

S17 Boarding Craft

A Blade-and-Keel boarding craft in 2 versions: S17, S17.1.

The S17 is a boarding craft, a Scale 3 customs boarding tender. It closes on a ship that has been told to stop, clamps to its hatch and puts an inspection party across before the target can run. It carries inspectors and not marines, and its Ion weapons disable a ship instead of breaking it. Crown's CM-120 holds a seal against resistance. The S17 arrives first.

Builder Benefit (Safa). Full Signature benefits apply to a Safa system in a Safa hull: guided attacks add a Boon Die, point defense reads one higher, the reactor counts one higher for overload, and the security, electronic warfare and cyberdefense systems take their Bane Dice. Chapter 4 has the rules.

Small craft. The S17 has no Slipstream Drive and carries 24 hours of Endurance. A Scale 3 craft rides in a Shuttle Bay or an Expanded Hangar, or on an External Docking Cradle on a Scale 5 or larger hull; Malhan Builders' Hardened Cradle lets a Scale 4 hull carry one (Chapter 10).

Model Trait: Inspection Clamp (S17, S17.1). When the craft locks a docking collar on a ship it holds under Target Lock, that ship's checks to tear the collar free add 1 Bane Die.

Factory Packages. S17 and S17.1: Boarding Ramp and Airlock, Armory. Empty slots: 1.

Version notes. S17. Sold with one Module Slot open. The Boarding Ramp and Airlock gives a forced docking collar a Boon Die, and the Inspection Clamp makes the collar hard to tear free. S17.1. A thicker prow plate and a second gold seam along the dorsal line: one more Hull Point and one more System Point. Two of the four side berth hatches are blanked over to make room for it, and Passengers fall from 6 to 4.

Common Variants. Customs boarding tender, Inspection party transfer, Checkpoint enforcement craft, Prize crew carrier.

Version Table

Version	Change	Price	Acquisition	Upgrade from previous
Safa S17	First version	249,000cr	Restricted	n/a
Safa S17.1	+1 Hull Point, +1 System Point; Passengers 6 to 4	262,000cr	Restricted	8 points, 22,100cr