Dralthi I

History

There is no single ship that more symbolizes the Empire of Kilrah than the bat-winged Dralthi fighter. A string of early successes combined with a distinct silouette permanently imprinted the Dralthi in the minds of its human opponents. This psychological impact was furthered by the fighter's huge production run - it was the most commonly encountered fighter in the Vega Sector theater of operations.

The first production model, the tiny KF-100, entered service in 2529; as such, it saw service during both the 2594 invasion of the Varni Republic and the 2598 battle with the Mantu. When the conflict with the Terran Confederation began in earnest, the KF-100 Dralthi remained one of the Empire's premiere medium fighters. Though superceded by later models, the KF-100 remained in service through the last year of the Vega Campaign - ultimately playing a key role in the destruction of the Pegasus Naval Station.

The second design (classified simply as Dralthi) entered service in the late 2640s. The new model featured a host of technical improvements, including extended life support and the introduction of an ejection system. They made their debut during an attack on the Epsilon Prima System, catching the TCS Tiger's Claw by surprise. Terran intelligence had failed to predict their extended range - costing the Tiger's Claw five pilots.

The Dralthi was, however, by no means a marvel of Kilrathi engineering: The huge, ovaloid wings blocked visibility to the sides of the fighter, forcing Kilrathi pilots to pitch rather than yaw during combat. Even worse, the shield generators were plauged by technical glitches - if hit too quickly, they would often fail completely.

Notoriously merciless ace Dakhath nar Sihkag ("Deathstroke") was credited with 78 space-to-space kills flying a Dralthi during the last years of the Vega Campaign. His fighter was shot down in 2654 by 1st Lt. Tanaka Mariko.

In one particularly unique use of surplus Dralthi, the commander of the Dioscuri System garrison issued the fighters to the planet's low technology natives, teaching them to defend their planet from human 'aggressors'. The Dralthi was suceeded on the production lines in 2655 by the Dralthi II. The Dralthi II marked the first total revision of the Dralthi design. The Dralthi II replaces the standard lasers with a pair of mass driver cannons, and also boasts a fully redesigned shield system. The Dralthi II also removes the ejection system found in the original Dralthi.

Kilrah first deployed Dralthi II to strike fleets in the Vega Sector in 2655. The fighters quickly found their way to Firekka for the Sivar-Eshrad ceremony, where flew missions against Austin and Tiger's Claw pilots.

Not all the Dralthi II at Firekka flew for the Empire: during the fighting Khantahr Ralgha nar Hhallas defected to the Terran Confederation, bringing with him the Fralthi-class cruiser KIS Ras Nik'hra and her complement of fighters. In a series of covert missions, pilots off the TCS Tiger's Claw flew the captured Dralthi II squadron in a series of reconaissance and escort missions.

Variant Comparison

Stat\Variant	Dralthi KF-100 (2529)	Dralthi (2640s)	Dralthi MK2 (2655)	Dralthi MK4 (2669)	Dralthi MK4 V1(2681)	Dralthi MK4 V2(2529)
Class:	Medium Fighter	Medium Fighter	Medium Fighter	Medium Fighter	Medium Fighter	Medium Fighter
Length:	28 meters	9 meters	28 meters	31 meters	31 meters	31 meters	? meters	? meters
Mass:	14 metric tonnes	10 metric tonnes	14 metric tonnes	15 metric tonnes	? metric tonnes