Chosen-class Fighter Mark M

The Chosen-class fighter is a very fast and very powerful starfighter built by the Linshi Monks of Linea. It is also a very expensive ship and would likely be considered prohibitively so by many other governments as the cost of one Chosen fighter could generally cover enough to build two or three starfighters of another type. However, for the monks, the cost is worth it because they believe that the act of flight brings them ever closer to their god and as such they will spare no expense to reach this level.

They prefer starfighters to larger ships as flying is a very personal experience to the Linshi, akin to a form of meditation. They believe this so strongly that most of their navy is comprised of starfighters, with only a single Deliverance-class Battlecruiser to break the trend. Even at that, the Deliverance is designed to support and work in tandem with the fighters, not overshadow them.

The Chosen fighter generally has three mission profiles. The primary mission is to clear Linea territory of all hostile starfighters. To do so it is equipped with the standard 15mm gauss cannons seen on numerous fighters in the Lapsarian Sector, it also uses these smaller guns to run missile interception. The larger, 25mm gauss cannons, are used to cripple capital-scale ships, usually by knocking out their AMS guns. Afterwards Chosen-class Bombers or the Deliverance can either further disable them or finish them off entirely depending on what is needed.

One of the biggest prices the Chosen pays for being so fast and deadly is that it has a smaller operational time in combat when compared to other fighters. There is comparatively little room to store ammo or fuel on a Chosen fighter, necessitating that they return fairly often to resupply. For this reason, Linea tends to send their fighters out in staggered groups of three or four at a time, so that they always have fighters on the battlefield while another groups is refueling.

Only the most skilled members of the Linshi are ever allowed the privilege of flying a Chosen, giving the dangerous craft a well-deserved and intimidating reputation.