Intelligence Dossier

Commissioned by Admiral Fitzgerald, EP Sector Fleet Headquarters, 2377

Tyr Class Interceptor

Length: 22m
Width: 16m
Height: 5m

Hull: Reinforced Steel/Silicon Polymer Composite (Microcoated). 200 ASE
Shields: Type 2 Fighter Grade. 330ASE

Armament

4 Type IV Variable Energy Weapon Mounts
1 Echelon class Ordinance Delivery system with 35 CEU Storage Space

The Tyr class interceptor is one of the most common foes faced in the Epsilon Pegasi sector, but fortunately is most certainly not the most potent. The Tyrs origins can not be directly traced back to any one company or individual � indeed, no vessel with the class name Tyr has ever officially been produced by any shipyard since the mid twenty first century space probe. Nevertheless, the modern Tyr does exist. The key to this ambiguity lies in the fact that the Tyr is not an actual fighter, but a civilian conversion of the Pleasure Skimmer, produced by the Avalon corporation.

The first Pleasure Skimmers rolled off the production line in 2340, a mere five years after the great war and has been described as �The Model T of interstellar travel�. This refers to an ancient land vehicle, produced by the Ford corporation, which, in the early days of the internal combustion engine, brought motoring within the reach of the average person. The Analogy is quite an appropriate one. The doctrine behind the Pleasure Skimmers development was to produce a small, cheap, civilian targeted craft, capable of utilizing the now 5 years old, fighter based inter system jump drive technology, though these, of course, could not be fitted as standard due to the prohibitively high cost of the technology. The Pleasure Skimmer had several traits that endeared it to the common market. For a start, it was constructed modularly. This process was, at the time (and in many cases still is today), frowned upon. Modular construction, no matter how well designed, left faults and seams in the hull of the vessel, causing exploitable weakpoints and compromising structural integrity. In combat craft, this would be highly objectionable (all modern military fighters are produced as single units), but in a civilian vessel, this was deemed an acceptable risk, and it resulted in a significant price drop. This form of construction meant that upgrades were not only possible, but altogether simple. Moreover, the Pleasure Skimmer had a large cockpit and a decent amount of pressurized storage space, meaning several people could travel in it at once.

Ultimately, the many advantages of the Pleasure Skimmer saw it gain a significant market share, which in turn led to a significant increase in the accessibility of space travel to the average citizen. This led to a production run of well over one hundred thousand, many of which were produced under the auspices of Triton Dynamics, who bought the Avalon Corporation in 2350. By the end of its production, in 2358, the Pleasure Skimmer was one of the most common small vessels in the galaxy. In other words, there was a plentiful supply, its modular construction made it easy to upgrade and modify, and it was cheap. Given the overall social climate of Post Capellan GTVA, it was inevitable that a vessel such as the Tyr should come about.

It is not known when the first Pleasure Skimmer was upgraded to a Tyr, nor by whom, nor even in what system this occurred. The earliest reports of �combat modified Avalon Pleasure Skimmers� being used for surprise or stealth attacks by pirates date back well over thirty years, but these vessels appear not to have the standard characteristics of the Tyrs we know today � mounting, generally, fewer weapons, and with a significant performance drop against the standard Pleasure Skimmers. The class name Tyr was only officially accepted by the GTVA in 2373, though by this time it had already slipped into general use, as had the processes whereby the Pleasure Skimmer could be converted into a true combat craft. The details of this procedure are reasonably well known, and a detailed workup of the process is included as Appendix A. For now, a short summary will suffice.

The upgrade from Pleasure Skimmer to Tyr is not a particularly complex process � the most important step is deceptively simple � removal of the old, somewhat inefficient Breccian reactor that the original pleasure skimmers shipped with, and the insertion of a more recent and powerful model. This boosts power significantly and easily, allowing the mechanic to almost double the shield strength and improve the acceleration by half. The pleasure skimmers hull was created entirely from the Steel/Silicon composite that served as the basis for most military grade fighters of the time (though with a somewhat less expensive form of steel used), and as such requires little upgrade, however all Tyrs are micro-coated with metallic resin. This improves the overall strength of the hull and helps to partially alleviate many of the problems related to the vessels modular design. Finally, the old Mk I Variable mounts are removed and replaced with Mark III�s or IV�s, and the internal cargo space, along with the rear third of the cockpit and whatever other internal space can be spared is converted into the vessels missile bay. This, however, produces a highly irregularly shaped bay, forcing the use of an Echelon class delivery system, rather than a more space efficient model such as the Mackson-Davies or Tiammut.

Tyrs form the backbone of the pirate fleets (if they can be called that) in EP. Their speed and agility, as well as the ability to carry two types of primary weapon, make them an ideal freebooter vehicle, and a headache for GTVA forces. The Tyr has a very thin cross section, and a good pilot will learn to use this to his advantage, presenting as small a target as possible to both pursuing fighters and any turrets hat may be ahead of it. It�s agility make long range assault chancy at best � the Tyr has an excellent record of evading even many of the more advanced aspect seeking missiles such as the Harpoon or Javelin. However, at closer range, this agility can be used against the vessel, as its twists and turns will inevitably expose its broad top or base to pursuing fire. A close range battle will also partially negate the speed advantage the Tyr has over many GTVA craft.

There is, unfortunately, no way to get an accurate count of the number of Tyrs in existence today. The sheer number of Pleasure Skimmers that were produced, and the relative ease of the conversion has led to a wide dissemination of these vessels, and made keeping track of all of them impossible, especially given the vested interest that most people who own them have in avoiding official scrutiny. We know that there are in excess of seventeen hundred serving in non criminal roles, such as those owned by local defence forces or large companies, who use them to defend their convoys, and intelligence has speculated that anywhere from two to eight times that number have been converted for criminal purposes, though obviously a significant percentage will have been destroyed in their work.