Quote:Close to it, anyway. My current image of the original ship looks something like a six-legged starfish, with the main engine fixed perpendicularly to the plane of the ship but surrounded by vectoring baffles that can direct its thrust out of vents between the 'legs'. Only the legs got torn off, either in battle or during reentry, and the baffles and ducting were about the same size and consistency as various other internal apparatus, so the 'open' one - which had been pointed due forward for braking purposes - got taken for the initial stage of a beam weapon.
Ye Gods! Unless you're telling me that the SDF has braking thrusters larger than the main thrusters, the RE team re-built the bloody thing ass backwards!
Joukahainen's expression the first time Skywatch fires off the Most Obscenely BFG should be priceless. ^_^
Re: Space Combat and maneuver -
The thing about the Valkyrie is that it wasn't really designed for space superiority. It's a close air support design, in a universe where 'close' is anything on the same planet... and for that matter, evolutionarily speaking, its more closely related to the Desdroids than an F-22. Many of the airframes stored aboard the SDF-1 for launch were earmarked for the 'anti-extinction insurance' bases on Mars and Venus. Their space ops ability is essentially aimed at letting them stage against ground targets from orbit... kind of like a swimming tank.
On the other hand, they're still greatly superior to a Zentradi mook in a suit, especially if you have some hand FAST packs on hand, and are without a doubt the best option the SDF-1 will have on hand.
Ja, -n
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