Coluber Blue Racer

Coluber Blue Racer
Size (metres, W×H×L)	100 x 40 x 112
Cargo capacity	70 TC
Cargo bay extension	85 TC
Maximum speed	0.333 LM
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 2.25 Pitch: 1.0 Yaw: 0.8 Thrust: 36
Energy banks	6
Energy recharge rate	Medium (3.6)
Gun mounts	Fore, Aft
Missile slots	5
Shield boosters available	Yes
Military shields available	Yes
Hyperspace capable	Yes
OXP or standard	OXP
Available to player	Yes
Base price	327.000 Cr

Overview

The Coluber CB-70333 "Blue Racer" is a a medium size cargo ship, a further development of the good old python. The ship is being developed and produced by the Coluber Works and Shipyards Ltd. located in the Riredi system, Xexedi cluster in galaxy one. After the industrial property rights for the python had finally expired in 2807, Coluber Ltd. decided to use this tried and tested workhorse as basis for its first own ship design.

Notable features

The Blue Racer has 30% less cargo space than a python, but overall - except for the number of energy banks - better stats. This makes the Blue Racer more suitable for a role as multi purpose ship. It is fast, maneuverable, and armed well enough to defend itself against pirates without the help of escort ships. The flight, weapon, and navigation systems of a Blue Racer are most widely automated so it can easily be handled by a single pilot. Nevertheless the standard crew consist of a pilot and a flight engineer.

Variations

At the moment there are two variations of the standard Blue Racer that are worthy of mention: The first is a less welcome one, the Buccaneer Blue Racer. This version is used by some veteran pirates. If you have bad luck and encounter one of this red and orange painted (well, you know pirates - and even veteran pirates - seldom have an eye for colors) Blue Racer, you should ask yourself: Do I have an iron-assed ship and need some challenging target practice or is it the better choice to jettison my cargo and run? You can absolutely be sure that the pirate flying the Buccaneer Blue Racer HAS an iron-assed ship! The second variation is the Riredisec Blue Racer. Riredisec Inc. is a well established transport company that is specialized in the transportation of larger quantities of gold, platinum an gemstones. Of course this makes the Riredisec Blue Racer a rewarding target for a pirate attack. Even so a Riredisec Blue Racer is only very seldom bothered by pirates, because it is widely known that it is always escorted by a full squadron of heavy fighters flown by experienced veterans an it always carries a least one q-bomb. ALWAYS!

Notable pilots

Captain Leo T. Eccles and flight engineer Atou Bedidiso formed one of the first crews on a Riredisec Blue Racer. This crew came to some fame because Eccles and Bedidiso survived a massive, coordinated attack of 15 pirate ships in the Gelaed system. After eliminating the 3 escort ships, 7 remaining pirate ships moved forward to the Blue Racer flown by Eccles and Bedidiso for the final kill. But while the pirates were busy with the escorts, Bedidiso had managed it to transfer the high-energy fuel from three missiles to the ships fuel tanks. Then they put everything at stake and Eccles activated the fuel injectors. For a short period of time the high-energy fuel produced enough thrust to be faster than the fastest pirate ship, but also a rapidly growing risk of overheating and an engine explosion. But they were lucky and as their ship came out of masslock range with almost ruined engines, Eccles activated the jumpdrive and they escaped. Finally they reached the station aegis and delivered the cargo - 3 tons of platinum - save to its destination. After this Incident Riredisec general management decided to equip every of their cargo ship with at least one q-bomb. Eccles and Bedidiso are still on duty for Riredisec Inc. And in the space bars there is still the tale of the two to be the first crew that ever flew a fire-ass ship. Well, I think Eccles and Bedidiso never were very happy about that tale and if you ever happen to encounter the two veterans in a space bar, it is a wise decision not to hint at it.

Upgrades

The following list of equipment is compatible with the Blue Racer, standard fitted equipment is displayed in bold:

A special HUD design for the Blue Racer is also available.

Custom paint jobs

Buccaneer Blue Racer

Riredisec Blue Racer

Download

The Blue Racer is part of the Coluber.oxp.

Current version:

• 0.6.0 Changed ships names and the backgroundstory; added the Red Racer; minor changes at the textures.

Old versions:

• 0.5.1 Bugfix in the shipyard.plist. Bug caused problems on windows systems. Thanks to JD for reporting the Bug and fixing it.
• 0.5.0 First release