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Description
The Rhen-wing starfighter was the premier space fighter used by the Imperial Navy, and continues to be operated widely in planetary operations by the Imperial Army and as part of small Navy strike groups. A two-man, warp-capable and shielded fighter, the Rhen-wing is a highly versatile and effective war machine. However, the Rhen-wing is bulky and expensive to build, maintain and operate, leading to its replacement in most space operations by the Tesh-wing drone interceptor.

The Rhen-wing was designed by the Pamosk Design Bureau to be the backbone of the Imperial starfighter corps. Pamosk designed the Rhen-wing with versatility in mind: its onboard warp drive meant it can deploy into a battle zone without a carrier, although the Rhen-wing was designed to be able to easily launch from the Velykev-class battlestars widely used prior to the Navy Restructuring Edict. Mirroring the capital ship philosophy of the Imperial Navy, the Rhen-wing was intended to be heavily shielded, heavily armored, and heavily armed, even if this did come at the cost of speed, maneuverability, and cost.

The fighter was named after the unique blaster system it used. Instead of sporting several lighter blasters, the Rhen-wing has two heavy blasters, with power output comparable to larger Imperial walkers. Each blaster has a dedicated reactor and two large radiator fins, in addition to the tail radiator fin that cools most of the ship’s systems. This allows the Rhen-wing to fire its blasters at an extraordinarily high rate, yet still pack enough firepower to blast holes into light capital ship armor. While effective, three reactors were expensive to manufacture and difficult to maintain, as more could go wrong with the complex system. The blaster radiators that give the Rhen-wing its name are also bulky and make it difficult to store the fighter, so Pamosk designed the radiators to fold when the fighter is not in combat.

To further increase the Rhen-wing’s firepower, the fighter was designed to be able to carry anti-ship proton torpedoes, allowing it to act as a fighter-bomber. This feature would later prove essential to its role in planetary engagements, particularly as a delivery method for incendiary, chemical, and anti-bunker weapons during the Arambi War and strikes against Gresi positions during the Yrrakis War, and other galactic conflicts.

Like the Tesh-wing, the Rhen-wing is powered by a bank of four pion engines. However, the Rhen-wing is several times bulkier than the Tesh-wing, meaning it could not achieve the speed and maneuverability of the drone. Human pilots also set a hard limit on the Rhen-wing’s maneuverability and speed: at a certain point, the human body will give out from the g-forces, while a computer brain has no such problems. For this reason, Naval Rhen-wings were equipped with anti-gravity plating in the cockpit, which only added to the expense. Army Rhen-wings do not have this feature, and instead their engines have a hardwired speed limit to protect pilots. Artificial gravity plating and microthrusters are positioned throughout the Rhen-wing’s fuselage to simulate aerodynamic effects in vacuum, as human minds are more comfortable with the assumption of friction and drag.

Perhaps the most expensive aspect of the Rhen-wing is the onboard warp drive. While a common feature in the fighters of other galactic polities, such as the Citizens’ Alliance, the Empire gradually found it difficult to justify the cost of the fighter primarily because of its warp drive. The warp drive’s expenses went beyond its upfront cost and fuel usage. In order to remain compliant with the Uniform Machine Code, the Rhen-wing needed human pilots; the only alternative was remote control through ansible, and that was an even more expensive option. Two pilots were needed to operate the Rhen-wing: one to pilot the vessel, and one to calculate and operate the vessel during warp jumps. Since many Rhen-wings ultimately deployed from carriers, this left an empty seat that was still being maintained by the starfighter’s life support system.

The Rhen-wing gradually fell out of favor with Imperial doctrine. As more of the larger Dondrukov-class battlestars were manufactured, they gradually became the only solution the Empire needed to patrol and defend its systems. Rhen-wing strike groups were not as fearsome as the imposing form of the Dondrukov-class in low orbit. The Dondrukovs also came with massive carrying capacity, which naturally led to drones being favored. After all, why carry a few dozen Rhen-wings into battle, when a hundred drones can take their place? The issues of remote control were no longer relevant, because a Dondrukov-class battlestar would always be present to provide this control. Drones were cheaper and, in high-intensity space combat, far more effective than human pilots. With all of these factors in mind, the adoption of the Tesh-wing became an inevitability, and was eventually enforced by the Naval Restructuring Edict.

The Navy continues to use Rhen-wings in strike groups against targets where deploying battlestars is impractical or dangerous, such as targets with heavy anti-ship weapons but few anti-fighter weapons. Ironically, the most effective demonstration of the Rhen-wing against a naval target was against the Empire itself, when several hijacked Rhen-wings were used to attack World Fortress IV. The attack has led to the Navy reevaluating the usefulness of the fighter, particularly against hardened targets within the Federation.

The replacement of the Rhen-wing as the Navy’s backbone did not spell the end for the fighter. While it was unpopular with Navy leadership, it became a darling of the Army. Ship-based torpedoes and drone swarms may be effective in the grand space battles of the galaxy, but in planetary engagements, the Army could never count on constant Navy support and needed a reliable fighter-bomber. Navy Rhen-wings were often used to support the Army, leading to their popularity among the Army brass. Eventually, the Navy loaned Rhen-wings out to the Army, and after the Naval Restructuring Edict, the Navy sold a majority of their Rhen-wings to the Army.

The Army repurposed the Rhen-wing to act as an atmospheric fighter-bomber, predominantly used to strike against hardened targets and, if needed, to fight enemy atmospheric fighters and drones, which were never as fast or maneuverable as their spaceborne counterparts. The Army removed the Rhen-wing’s hyperdrive and extra seat to make room for more heavy ordnance, as they were no longer needed in their role as planetary strike craft.

Although useful as a fighter, the Rhen-wing was designed to fight in the void, so its bulk and inefficient aerodynamics hampered it in dogfights against dedicated atmospheric fighters. The Rhen-wing shone as a strike bomber, capable of quick, tactical strikes, unlike the Army’s slow, plodding Ev-wing bombers. During the Arambi War, Rhen-wings are often utilized to strike against arambi positions deep in the jungles, flying in near the treeline to avoid being struck by arambi surface-to-air missiles. The distinctive high-pitched scream of the Rhen-wing’s pion engines in atmosphere became symbolic of the Army’s ability to strike hard anywhere on the battlefield, and it was essential to maintaining Imperial morale during the Life Day Offensive on Moshyyro. Such was the distinctive sound of the Rhen-wing’s engines that they are depicted in any media with the fighter, even if the scenes are set in hard vacuum. Like the Pem-wing gunship, the Rhen-wing has become one of the enduring symbols of the Arambi War, and any depiction of the conflict is guaranteed to include at least one.

Description
The Rhen-wing starfighter was the premier space fighter used by the Imperial Navy, and continues to be operated widely in planetary operations by the Imperial Army and as part of small Navy strike groups. A two-man, warp-capable and shielded fighter, the Rhen-wing is a highly versatile and effective war machine. However, the Rhen-wing is bulky and expensive to build, maintain and operate, leading to its replacement in most space operations by the Tesh-wing drone interceptor.

The Rhen-wing was designed by the Pamosk Design Bureau to be the backbone of the Imperial starfighter corps. Pamosk designed the Rhen-wing with versatility in mind: its onboard warp drive meant it can deploy into a battle zone without a carrier, although the Rhen-wing was designed to be able to easily launch from the Velykev-class battlestars widely used prior to the Navy Restructuring Edict. Mirroring the capital ship philosophy of the Imperial Navy, the Rhen-wing was intended to be heavily shielded, heavily armored, and heavily armed, even if this did come at the cost of speed, maneuverability, and cost.

The fighter was named after the unique blaster system it used. Instead of sporting several lighter blasters, the Rhen-wing has two heavy blasters, with power output comparable to larger Imperial walkers. Each blaster has a dedicated reactor and two large radiator fins, in addition to the tail radiator fin that cools most of the ship’s systems. This allows the Rhen-wing to fire its blasters at an extraordinarily high rate, yet still pack enough firepower to blast holes into light capital ship armor. While effective, three reactors were expensive to manufacture and difficult to maintain, as more could go wrong with the complex system. The blaster radiators that give the Rhen-wing its name are also bulky and make it difficult to store the fighter, so Pamosk designed the radiators to fold when the fighter is not in combat.

To further increase the Rhen-wing’s firepower, the fighter was designed to be able to carry anti-ship proton torpedoes, allowing it to act as a fighter-bomber. This feature would later prove essential to its role in planetary engagements, particularly as a delivery method for incendiary, chemical, and anti-bunker weapons during the Arambi War and strikes against Gresi positions during the Yrrakis War, and other galactic conflicts.

Like the Tesh-wing, the Rhen-wing is powered by a bank of four pion engines. However, the Rhen-wing is several times bulkier than the Tesh-wing, meaning it could not achieve the speed and maneuverability of the drone. Human pilots also set a hard limit on the Rhen-wing’s maneuverability and speed: at a certain point, the human body will give out from the g-forces, while a computer brain has no such problems. For this reason, Naval Rhen-wings were equipped with anti-gravity plating in the cockpit, which only added to the expense. Army Rhen-wings do not have this feature, and instead their engines have a hardwired speed limit to protect pilots. Artificial gravity plating and microthrusters are positioned throughout the Rhen-wing’s fuselage to simulate aerodynamic effects in vacuum, as human minds are more comfortable with the assumption of friction and drag.

Perhaps the most expensive aspect of the Rhen-wing is the onboard warp drive. While a common feature in the fighters of other galactic polities, such as the Citizens’ Alliance, the Empire gradually found it difficult to justify the cost of the fighter primarily because of its warp drive. The warp drive’s expenses went beyond its upfront cost and fuel usage. In order to remain compliant with the Uniform Machine Code, the Rhen-wing needed human pilots; the only alternative was remote control through ansible, and that was an even more expensive option. Two pilots were needed to operate the Rhen-wing: one to pilot the vessel, and one to calculate and operate the vessel during warp jumps. Since many Rhen-wings ultimately deployed from carriers, this left an empty seat that was still being maintained by the starfighter’s life support system.

The Rhen-wing gradually fell out of favor with Imperial doctrine. As more of the larger Dondrukov-class battlestars were manufactured, they gradually became the only solution the Empire needed to patrol and defend its systems. Rhen-wing strike groups were not as fearsome as the imposing form of the Dondrukov-class in low orbit. The Dondrukovs also came with massive carrying capacity, which naturally led to drones being favored. After all, why carry a few dozen Rhen-wings into battle, when a hundred drones can take their place? The issues of remote control were no longer relevant, because a Dondrukov-class battlestar would always be present to provide this control. Drones were cheaper and, in high-intensity space combat, far more effective than human pilots. With all of these factors in mind, the adoption of the Tesh-wing became an inevitability, and was eventually enforced by the Naval Restructuring Edict.

The Navy continues to use Rhen-wings in strike groups against targets where deploying battlestars is impractical or dangerous, such as targets with heavy anti-ship weapons but few anti-fighter weapons. Ironically, the most effective demonstration of the Rhen-wing against a naval target was against the Empire itself, when several hijacked Rhen-wings were used to attack World Fortress IV. The attack has led to the Navy reevaluating the usefulness of the fighter, particularly against hardened targets within the Federation.

The replacement of the Rhen-wing as the Navy’s backbone did not spell the end for the fighter. While it was unpopular with Navy leadership, it became a darling of the Army. Ship-based torpedoes and drone swarms may be effective in the grand space battles of the galaxy, but in planetary engagements, the Army could never count on constant Navy support and needed a reliable fighter-bomber. Navy Rhen-wings were often used to support the Army, leading to their popularity among the Army brass. Eventually, the Navy loaned Rhen-wings out to the Army, and after the Naval Restructuring Edict, the Navy sold a majority of their Rhen-wings to the Army.

The Army repurposed the Rhen-wing to act as an atmospheric fighter-bomber, predominantly used to strike against hardened targets and, if needed, to fight enemy atmospheric fighters and drones, which were never as fast or maneuverable as their spaceborne counterparts. The Army removed the Rhen-wing’s hyperdrive and extra seat to make room for more heavy ordnance, as they were no longer needed in their role as planetary strike craft.

Although useful as a fighter, the Rhen-wing was designed to fight in the void, so its bulk and inefficient aerodynamics hampered it in dogfights against dedicated atmospheric fighters. The Rhen-wing shone as a strike bomber, capable of quick, tactical strikes, unlike the Army’s slow, plodding Ev-wing bombers. During the Arambi War, Rhen-wings are often utilized to strike against arambi positions deep in the jungles, flying in near the treeline to avoid being struck by arambi surface-to-air missiles. The distinctive high-pitched scream of the Rhen-wing’s pion engines in atmosphere became symbolic of the Army’s ability to strike hard anywhere on the battlefield, and it was essential to maintaining Imperial morale during the Life Day Offensive on Moshyyro. Such was the distinctive sound of the Rhen-wing’s engines that they are depicted in any media with the fighter, even if the scenes are set in hard vacuum. Like the Pem-wing gunship, the Rhen-wing has become one of the enduring symbols of the Arambi War, and any depiction of the conflict is guaranteed to include at least one.