Raptor flown off the TCS Tiger's Claw, Star Slayer Squadron, circa 2654.
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HISTORY
The heavy fighter itself was an idea born of an era unfettered by considerations for phase shields - and no fighter better exemplifies the heavy fighter than the Raptor. Designed with a heavy missile and strong gun loadouts, but lacking the ability to carry antimatter torpedoes, the Raptor was a fighter whose success lay largely with the period in which it served and the sort of pilots it kept alive.
Raptors came into the spotlight in 2639, during the McAuliffe/Enyo engagement. Then-Captain Geoffrey Tolwyn's daring plan rested on the abilities of a small force of Raptors outfitted as minelayers. The plan worked, rescuing hundreds of thousands of captive civilians and ensuring the Raptor a place in the history books. Over the next fifteen years, through to the close of the Vega Campaign, the Raptor would see success in several roles: as a commerce raider, as a heavy handed answer to swarm fighter tactics and, when used in coordinated attacks, as a strike craft against line targets as large as cruisers.
During the height of the Vega Campaign, Raptors from Star Slayer squadron off the TCS Tiger's Claw scored a string of impressive ship to ship victories.
Raptors continued to see service with front line squadrons through to the 2668 Battle of Terra. Following the conclusion of the war, surplus Raptors found their way to the service of the Free Republic of the Landreich - where they continued to see service through the border skirmishes of the early seventies.
SPECIFICATIONS
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