A Britannian Navy gunboat escorts a trader on the borders of Her Majesty's space.
It's currently 5:00 New Greenwich Mean Time, which means that it's teatime aboard all ships of the Britannian fleet...
... Which explains why they're caught with their pants down when the Devil's Claw, Captain Cutlass' personal ship, drops out of warp and destroys the Britannian gunboat with one volley from its dual rail guns.
"Oh, bugger."
The tables turn for the pirates, however, when the freighter reveals itself to be a deadly Q-Ship, deploying its concealed missile and torpedo tubes and swinging them to face the pirate vessel.
As the first missile hits, Captain Cutlass realizes his mistake. The railguns won't be able to recharge before the Q-ship's heavy torpedoes strike home, so Cutlass has no choice but to turn tail and flee the battle at full thrust. Two Hurricane fighters and a York bomber launch from the Q-ship in pursuit, with a boarding pod full of Royal Marines just behind them.
The Claw wins, just barely, and manages to warp out as the torpedo detonates harmlessly behind it. "Huzzah! God save the Queen!"
"Wait, why are we so stereotypically British?"
"Because our dialogue's being written by an American, you wanker."
"Oh. Bugger."
The Hurricanes and York are mainly patrol craft, too old and clunky to serve on the front lines. I don't really like them, I was short on both parts and patience when I made the things.
The two frigates are intended to fall somewhere between White Nun's White Sector steamships and Warhead's ironclad Space Dreadnoughts. They have the same coloration and shape as Warhead's ships, but retain the smokestacks from White Nun's designs. The Britannian gunboat is an ubiquitous sight across the Empire, armed with one heavy and one light laser cannon as well as numerous point-defense batteries too small to show here.
This shot didn't come out too well, but it shows the secondary drive below the main engine, which I really like for some reason.
The freighter/Q-ship with weapons retracted.
Missile and torpedo tube extended. In addition to serving as decoy freighters to lure in and attack pirates, Q-ships also act as long-ranged support craft in minor battles. Based on civilian designs, they don't have the same performance as real warships, but they can store large numbers of fighters, boarding pods, missiles, and torpedoes in their converted holds.
The Devil's Claw is a rehash of an old ship I built last winter. It has actual weapons now, so I don't have to bullshit about "experimental micro-missiles" in order to justify its existence. Also, it can now sit level to the ground when on a stand.
Rumor has it that Cutlass built the ship by stealing two Immortal Empire railgun frigates from a shipyard, then stripping them down and grafting them to either side of his specially-built luxury living quarters pod.
Perfect! Exactly what I had suggested to WN. 
) Brittanians are not gonna mix well with my Inquistadores either way though, I wonder how that'll work out.
