Bantha Gunship

"its big, its cranky and after a wile it starts to smell funny. But its tough and you don't ever want to butt heads with it."
Rand Ryock 125th Assault Squadron.

Armed with a battery of heavy and medium blast cannon, multiple quad lasers, concussion missiles, torpedoes, and a potent ion cannon the BsE-129 Attack Gunship is the product of the same design team that produced the B-wing fighter. While it shares many of the same design principles of the B-wing it dispenses with the rotating pilots cabin, and movable S-foils. Replacing them with  more rugged fixed airfoils, and a larger fixed crew area with quarters for the eight crewmen who man the ship. Its primary role is heavy strike missions against hardened targets that require heavier weapons than starfighters can mount.

In development before the Battle of Endor the Beta or more commonly "Bantha" Gunship was troubled by poor handling and limited power due to the constraints of resources available to the Rebel Alliance. When the Emperor was killed at Endor, and the rapid collapse of the Empire changed the balance of power the project was nearly canceled due to a lack of need for a heavy attack ship. Following the establishment of the New Republic and the turmoil of the years following the collapse of the Empire The designers revived the project to provide a heavy patrol and defense vessel for smaller worlds which  could not afford larger more expensive Corvettes, or had limited numbers of qualified crewmen.

The design was overhauled with newly available systems to increase its speed and agility allowing the heavy craft to perform well enough to deal with the common fighters and armed craft it would face during its operations. It is still relatively slow and clumsy compared to newer fighters but the  extremely powerful weapons load, and multiple quad lasers installed to defend against smaller more agile fighters allows the Epsilon Beta to hold its own against any fighter screen it  encounters. Despite the increase in maneuverability and speed the Bantha Nickname has stuck with the craft. Although its often used more affectionately by pilots than the original pilots who detested the ships poor performance.

It is most effective when operating in small flights or with basic fighter escort. Often four to six Banthas will engage a target in coordination while a single flight of fighters provide a screen against enemy fighters. Should the enemy attempt to focus on the attack ship its heavy armor and shields allow it to survive multiple direct hits and continue its mission. The combination of defensive firepower, armor and shielding make a flight of Banthas a difficult force to defend against without a heavy capital ships firepower or an overwhelming fighter screen.

Bantha pilots will often rotate through the lead position with trailing craft providing covering fire to ward off defenders as the lead craft maneuvers into firing position and delivers an initial attack using its ion cannons to disable enemy systems then come around  to deliver a concentrated attack using its guns and torpedoes. When engaging more dangerous targets the flight will split into two ship sections and attack from multiple angles the groups attacking in fast slashing attacks that force the enemy commander to defend against one attack as the first attack group moves away to set up for another attack run.

The craft has become a workhorse in more remote systems, and in the employee of several mercenary groups. Recently several 'surplus" Epsilon Beta Gunships have  found their way into the hands of the Resistance who uses them to harass First Order military convoys, and strike at First Order Facilities.

The unique design of the craft does pose problems usually the craft are moored in launch gantries at their base of operation or affixed to the hull of a larger starship. their  tends to make maintenance difficult requiring special equipment to reach certain areas. It also prevents the  craft from landing without a support gantry however its is provided with repulser lifts to allow it to hover in place for extended periods. to access the ships crew cabin without a support gantry the crew must climb up the exterior of the craft or make use of a boarding skiff or other support vehicle.

Another factor that has to be considered is that even with improved reactors the  vessel requires a skilled engineer to take full advantage of the crafts heavy firepower. The systems need to be  constantly rebalanced to provide enough power to fire all of its weapons maintain full thrust and shield capacity.  during combat the gunners and engineer must constantly communicate to allow the  engineer to provide maximum power tot he weapons systems being  fired.  Many models are fitted with auxiliary power supplies fitted into the crew cabin or bolted to the exterior of the craft to provide additional power and reduce the strain on the ships reactors.

IN some situation the crew will land the craft by turning it 'nose up" and landing on its rear surfaces which are reinforces to support the  weight of the craft. this is an awkward arrangement at best but it does allow the craft to operate from unimproved sites, and operate independently of its support base. On worlds with large bodies of fresh water the craft can be sealed to allow it to partially submerge into the water allowing the crew to enter and exit freely.  Although once again this is a stopgap measure not recommended by the manufacturer.

BsE-129 Bantha Heavy Gunship
Role: Long range patrol, and  heavy strike
Crew: Pilot, copilot, navigator engineer, x4 weapons operators.
Armor: Heavy
Shields: Heavy, variable configuration ray shielding
Drives: Six Fusial Thrust Engines.
Hyperdrive: Class 2.0 with full nav-computer support

Atmospheric speed: Transonic, supersonic with defelctors engaged.

Weapons:
Primary
Medium Ion Cannon
X2 Torpedo launchers 44 torpedoes loaded.

Secondary:
4 fire linked heavy Blast cannon
4 Concussion Missile canisters 88 missiles loaded

Self defense
6 rapid fire quad laser turrets
2 light auto blasters