Craft: Asp Viper Fighter
Type: Colonial Space Superiority Starfighter
Scale: Starfighter
Dimensions:
-Length: 8.9m
-Width: 3.8m
Skill: Starfighter Piloting: Asp Viper
Crew: 1 or 2 (pilot and co-pilot/gunner)
Crew Skill: Starfighter Piloting 5D+2, Starship Gunnery 5D.
Passengers: 1 (If co-pilot seat is not used)
Cargo Capacity: 80 kilograms, 4 cubic meters.
Consumables: 2 weeks (in emergency gear)
Cost: 185,000 colonial credits (new); 150,000 (used)
Hyperdrive: N/A
Nav Computer: Yes (for intrasystem travel and guidance from its baseship)
Maneuverability: 2D (3D with Turbo Boost for Acceleration, or Braking Thrusters for deceleration)
Space: 7 (10 with Turbo Boost)
Atmosphere: 350; 1,000kmh
Hull: 4D
Shields: N/A
Sensors:
-Passive: 30/1D
-Scan: 40/1D+2
-Search: 45/2D+2
-Focus: 4/3D+2
WEAPONS:
2 Laser-Torpedo Guns
Location: The sides of the fuselage by the cockpit, under the wings, facing forwards.
Fire Arc: Front.
Crew: 1 (pilot)
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Scale: Starfighter (lasers); Capital (torpedoes)
Fire Control: 2D
Space range:
-Lasers: 1-3/12/25
-Torpedoes: 1/3/7, 7 per round.
Atmosphere range:
-Lasers: 100-300/1.2/2.5km
-Torpedoes: 50-100/300/700, 700 per round.
Damage: 6D (lasers); 8D (torpedoes, can also be fire-linked for 9D)
Ammo: Unlimited (lasers); 2 (torpedoes), can also be changed to 4 starfighter scale torpedoes, and either of these can be converted as bombs for bombing runs as needed.
Rate of Fire: Fire-linked beam per attack (lasers); 1 missile per attack, or volleys of up to max payload.
NOTES:
-Turbo Boost: When used, Turbo Boost increases the speed to 10, then slows down by one every round (10, then 9, then 8, then abck to 7). Also, Warriors piloting the Viper must wear a grav suit underneath their uniform to resist the G-forces pulled during acceleration with turbo Boost. WIthout the suit, the pilots must make Stamina rolls every round, starting at Very Difficult and one level less every round after until back to normal speed. Failing the roll means they lose conciousness for 2D rounds or more.
-Continuous Turbo Boost: Sometimes, a Viper needs to get somewhere fast. In the original series, Viper pilots sometimes pressed the Turbo button on the stick and held it to get where they needed to go if it wasn't close by. For this, when a pilot holds Turbo Boost, he starts with the normal Boost speed increase, and increases it by one once per combat round. The first round, he gets normal speed increase and nothing happens (Space Speed 10, no roll needed); The second round, they get an increase by one (Space Speed 11), and must roll the Fang Viper's Hull Die Code against Easy Difficulty. The maximum Space Speed increase is +3 (Space Speed 13), also increasing the Difficulty for the Hull Dice by one with each speed increase (Easy, then Moderate, then Difficult, and stays at Difficult until Continuous Turbo Boost is stopped). If the Hull Dice roll is failed, either roll the roll 1D; if evens (2,4,6), the Viper has burned up all its fuel and is dead in space; if odds (1,3,5), the Viper has burned out its engines and requires a Repair check one Difficulty higher than the Difficulty it broke down on (this might require the pilot to exit the craft and make repairs on the outside, but space suits are stowed away inside the cockpit, behind the seats).
-Galactica's Launch Bays: In the Galactica's stats (I'll fix it after this), its Launch Bays sling the Vipers along a magnetic launch tube combined with Turbo Boost to get them out faster and into the combat zone. The original Vipers and Asp Vipers get a temporary speed increase of 12. This however will decrease by one every round just like normal Turbo Boost, until the Fang Viper returns to normal speed.
-Invisibility Field: Lasts 24 hours, leaving the Viper completely invisible to the naked eye and most of Earth's detection technology (or other lesser technologies from other sources).
-None of the single-seat variants of this craft are seen in use in "Galactica 1980", although they are in many of the special effects scenes in the series -- as these scenes are extensively reused from the Original Series.
-Energizers provide power to the invisibility screens Doctor Zee created and outfitted on Colonial Vipers. Dillon voices his concern over needing to recharge such energizers in their craft during their brief incarceration at a police station (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I); a fully charged energizer can last for about 24 hours Earth time when the invisibility field is activated (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II).
-The feature of personal invisibility, or the invisibility field, is devised by Doctor Zee after the discovery of Earth. He first demonstrates the invisibility field on a Viper on a launch platform, explaining beforehand that "each color and sound has its own frequency, some of which are too high to be perceived by the human eye or ear" and that by generating a "nuclear field in a frequency above the perception of Earth's conventional electronic equipment or even the human eye" whole ships or personnel can be rendered invisible.
The power cost, however, is too high for this to be used in all applications, and thus must be used only in "life or death" situations (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I).
One feature, personal invisibility, is used by Willy Griffin to torment a bully, Tucker (Galactica Discovers Earth). Later, the invisibility feature is used by Troy and Dillon to avoid questioning by the FBI after thwarting a hijacking attempt on an commercial air plane (The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I).
Those using the invisibility field emitted by the device cannot see others who are also invisible using the same device; Troy and Dillon hold hands while quickly exiting the plane so as to remain in close proximity during their escape (The Night the Cylons landed, Part I).
-The computron is also capable of scanning communication frequencies, including those used by the Cylons (The Night the Cylons Landed, part I), medical probing, and making scientific analyses.
The computron's scanner can cause certain Earth machines to malfunction. This discovery first happens when Troy attempts to scan the phone in a phone booth, causing the phone to empty its coin box (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I).
The scanner function is also capable of making medical diagnoses, and aided Troy in saving the lives of Moonstone and two other Super Scouts. It can also make scientific analyses, analyzing various mineral and chemical content (The Super Scouts, Part I).
It is also used by Dillon and Troy to translate Earth terms they does not understand (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I), in addition to providing information on the many aspects of Earth, including its locations and organizations (The Night the Cylons Landed, part I).
The translation goes both ways, with a reverse lookup feature to look up Earth equivalents for Colonial terms. For instance, Dillon looks up the Earth term for "transmission band" and comes up with "television channel" (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I). (In the script for "The Super Scouts, Part I", the device is referred to as a languatron. However, the device has been referred to differently on the screen, and thus the Wiki uses the on-screen dialogue.)
-The "Asp" name for this Viper is not actual canon but created by another fan source. But, if using both versions of the Viper, it helps to differentiate between the two versions. Even if using later models of the Viper the Asp still holds a place of use with its differences, advancements and second passenger capability.
VARIANTS and MODIFICATIONS (These are from the Original Series Viper and are likely available for this variant):
-A "Recon Viper" variant has been developed, possessing greater speed and maneuverability capabilities than a typical Viper, but lacking any armament due to the removal of the laser pumps. It also possesses an advanced voice interface. Starbuck is the only Warrior known to have flown this variant (The Long Patrol). Space Speed +2; Maneuverability +1D.
-CORA: CORA is an acronym for "Computer, Oral Response Activated."
CORA is an advanced flight computer installed in Recon Viper One, designed to not only assist the pilot in flying during long patrols, but also keep him entertained. Maneuverability +2D, or Starfighter Piloting 5D.
CORA's voice is distinctly feminine, and it exhibits a flirtatious demeanor when interacting with Starbuck. Despite the apparent advanced intelligence of the unit, it fails to prevent Robber from stealing the Recon Viper, even assisting him by flying as he directed.
Capable of maneuvering the Viper extremely competently and precisely, Starbuck has CORA perform a maximum-G climb that causes a Cylon Raider to crash into the planetoid Proteus (The Long Patrol).
-On missions where Vipers must endure extreme heat or other environments that could endanger the pilot, specially designed shielding can be applied to the cockpit canopy. This extra layer of protection was used in the Madagon star cluster and prevented pilots from being hurt by the incredible heat and light in the region (Saga of a Star World). +3D against harmful heat, radiation or other extreme environmental conditions that would affect the pilot.
COCKPIT LAYOUT:
While the ship can be piloted by one pilot, a second person in the back seat can run scanners and other on board computron equipment. The first seat is typically the flight seat, although the second person can assume piloting duties as well, since a second set of flight controls is also available ("Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III", "Spaceball", "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I").
An on board compartment accessible through the cockpit contains space suits, which can be used when extra-vehicular activity is necessary (Spaceball).
DESCRIPTION:
The Colonial Viper is the primary space superiority fighter and attack craft deployed by the Colonial military. Capable of both atmospheric and long-range spacial flight, the Viper is a single-to-two-pilot craft with two-forward mounted laser-torpedo guns as standard.
The Viper is capable of rapid acceleration in the form of a rapid acceleration feature (called "turbos"), which results in greater fuel usage (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I).
Apparently in use as early as ten-yahren into the exodus from the Twelve Colonies (The Return of Starbuck), the Vipers have a large storage compartment in the undercarriage in which a lone turbine can be stored (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I) as well as an energizer (a technologically advanced electrical generator) powerful enough to render the Viper invisible for 24 Earth hours (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II).
Also, a device capable of time warping, the time warp synthesizer, is outfitted in at least three Vipers: Dillon's, Troy's and one that Xaviar steals (Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II).
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