Although Fighters can't match the durability or power of a capital ship their versatility and nimbleness makes them an effective mobile strike force useful in many tactical situations. Fighters can launch from a Cargo Bay with a Launch Tube cargo item.

Fighters hold up to two characters. Either one or both may operate the Fighter. It is important to note that the Fighter can only take one move action and one shoot action per Phase and can only make contact with a given starship or installation a maximum of once per Phase. (You cannot launch or undock and dock a Fighter on the same Phase to the same ship.)

Movement in a Fighter requires one of the occupants to spend a move action to make a Piloting skill check and then consult the following char to see how many hexes you may go. Each Fighter may only move once per Phase and it spends the move action only of one character to move the Fighter.

Fighters, drones, relay stations, and all types of mines and missiles including boarding torpedoes form the class of objects called microships.

Microships have a target number of 12 but each damage level makes it one easier to target.

You cannot target a microship with a Teleporter.

Any hit with a ship's weapon on a microship causes a damage level to it, a die of damage to any occupants and the microship must make a survival check of 7 + the number of damage markers it has, or be destroyed. Characters aboard a destroyed microship suffer one die of damage and become spacewalkers. Warhead missiles gain an additional damage marker each time they gain one.

Any action within a microship (Fighters, boarding torpedoes) is at a penalty equal to the number of damage levels it has.

If a microship is in the range of an explosion it does not get a Damage marker or deal damage to the occupants but the microship must make a survival check.

Microships ignore asteroids. Microships moving at a speed greater than one into hexes containing astral bodies larger than an asteroid get a free dodge check of 7 + damage markers. Characters aboard (if any) on overwatch to dodge may make this check a Piloting check. Note, this is a special case where you can go on overwatch to dodge during your move action when piloting a microship. Failure to dodge causes a hit to the microship.

(automatic action)

It requires an action to strap yourself into or out of a fighter. This action must be taken at a Cargo Bay battlestation for a landed fighter or any adjacent square for a docked fighter.

Other characters in or adjacent to the docked fighter or the Cargo Bay battlestation for a landed fighter may spend their actions to put any unresisting character within their reach into (or out of) the fighter.

Only bots can begin a mission in a fighter unless otherwise specified in the mission briefing.

(Piloting vs. 11)

Spend 2 Guns power. There is no consequence for failure other than not launching and losing the power. This action can be taken from the Cargo Bay or from within a fighter at no remote penalty.

(Engineering vs. 11)

Remove all damage from any fighter in the Cargo Bay.

Any of the following actions may be taken aboard a fighter.

(Piloting vs. 8 )

You may assist any fighter or drone in your hex with any skill check they are attempting, including movement.

(As per the Fighter battlestation action above)

(Piloting vs. target ship's OOC + 2 x Speed)

Success puts your fighter in the unoccupied Cargo Bay slot of your choice. Failure damages the fighter, deals 1 die of damage to the occupants and causes a survival check.

You can land in a Cargo Bay this way but will not be able to launch again unless it has a Launch Tube.

(Piloting vs target ship's OOC + (2 x Speed) + 3)

Success puts your fighter at the external port of your choice for the target ship. Note that this does not open enemy doors. They can be hacked, blown open or opened from the inside by a confederate (see page 31).

ANY maneuver by the starship undocks the fighter unless it is clamped (see below).

A fighter may only dock or undock with a ship once in a Phase. Thus, you cannot use a fighter to shuttle people around a ship in one Phase.

A fighter is damaged when the module it is docked to is struck by weapons fire. This causes a die of damage to the occupants, a damage marker and a survival check for the fighter.

Automatic Action

This action can be taken from inside or outside the fighter. The fighter will remain docked to the external door of the starship even if the starship maneuvers.

If the fighter does any movement or maneuver while clamped, it suffers a damage marker (and survival check) and is free but causes no damage to occupants or the ship.

(Piloting vs. smallest personal target number + 3 per additional pickup)

It is a free action to cling on or climb in when getting picked up. Cling-ons provide a +1 difficulty penalty to all actions taken by the fighter. Two characters linked together count as a single pickup but two cling-ons.

Cling-ons are spacewalkers. Unconscious cling-ons fail off unless something is holding them.

(Engineering vs. 11 + 3 per additional damage marker to be removed)

Success removes a damage marker from the fighter. Note that like all actions, there is a penalty to the skill check equal to the number of damage markers on the fighter.

(Combat vs. target Distance x 2 + Speed x 2)

If successful, roll hit allocation as per a standard Cannon shot configured to Multi-Cannon.

Fighters in the same hex as their target ignore the target's shields and choose the direction they hit from.

A fighter's cannon may only be fired a maximum of once in a given Phase.

(Piloting vs. target ship's Speed x 2)

If successful, crash the fighter into a ship in the same hex like a boarding missile. This destroys the fighter and disgorges all occupants into the module of the pilot's choosing.

(Piloting vs. 7)

You may choose this as your action during movement in place of having to make a survival check when entering a hex with a moon or planet. Failure damages your fighter.

A fighter is considered Speed 6 for targeting purposes. Any attempt to target a fighter has its difficulty reduced by the number of damage markers it has.

Personal weapons fire against a fighter causes a Broken marker and a survival check on a damage die roll of 6 but does not cause damage to occupants.

See Tractor (page 120).

Any microship in the blast area of an explosion must make a survival check but does not gain a damage marker or cause damage to the occupants.

When a fighter is hit, do not roll hit allocation.

The fighter gets a Broken marker and each occupant suffers one die of damage.

Any action taken aboard a fighter is at a penalty equal to the number of Broken markers it has.

Each time a fighter is hit, it must make a Survival Check at a difficulty of 7 + the number of Broken markers on it. This is luckable. Nothing else adds to this roll. If this roll fails, the occupants suffer an additional die of damage and become spacewalkers.

Fighters can be upgraded with an Engineering skill check of 11. They can be upgraded multiple times (with multiple actions, possibly over multiple campaign turns) but the difficulty to upgrade a fighter goes up by 1 for each upgrade it already has.

Each Fighter begins play with one upgrade as determined by the ship it flew in on. Each species has a preference for the starting upgrade for its fighters.

See the full list on next page.