Ship Drone AISN Qetesh
The first generation of drone-attack chassis developed by Foyeri Astrotech and TCI Systems, the Qetesh is a marvel of Antarean design and practicality. Though light on armor, the Qetesh boasts an amazing sublight acceleration. Built with modularity and ease of maintenance in mind, the drone is small and light-weight. Thus, individual ships are able to carry dozens more of these drones then they could manned fighters. Incorporating the early advances in drone-brain technology, the Qetesh operates best in large groups and paired with an Isis class drone-controller. Small and nimble, the Qetesh is is primarily employed in engaging enemy strike-craft, though it has found limited success against larger ships. Its usefulness in numbers against capital ships is more to simply swamp and overwhelm its point-defense as support for others.
The Qetesh Mk1 was the first drone to see active service in the war. Originally mounting a pair of Covington Light Gattling Rail-cannons, the resulting reliance on ammunition severely hampered the craft's effectiveness during sustained combat. The subsequent development of the Isis and Mut class drone-support craft helped lengthen the Qetesh's overall combat-time, but in general, Antarean commanders often found themselves having to withdraw their drones early in an engagement, as the ships would run out of ammo or fuel. This forced the developers at TCI to rethink the Qetesh's armament.
The Mk2 variant completely did away with the original, ammunition-dependant system, opting instead to use a pair of Covington Micro-Plasma Vulcans instead. Though weaker and far more bulky then the original guns, the affect of this change was tremendous. The Qetesh was now able to stay in combat for an indefinite amount of time. Despite the reduction in damage potential, the guns still proved more then adequate to fulfill the ship's role as a light-interceptor. Thus, the Mk2 Qetesh is now a standard part of any Antarean commander's arsenal.
Note: the Mk2 Qetesh is surprisingly modular. TCI systems has recently unveiled sensor, engine and weapon-upgrades that, depending on the commander's fancy, can quickly change the ship to fit a variety of different roles (from scout, to hi-speed interceptor, to light-bomber). It is expected that these upgrade-kits will reach the fleet as a whole by late 990AE.
Design Addendum: The "flanges" along the side exist to allow the drone to fit into its docking collar aboard its parent ship. Unlike the Iret, the Qetesh is capable of being stored in small, armored pod-nacelles and launched directly from the hull of a ship. This has added to their favor among AISN commanders, who enjoy employing the craft in this unorthodox manner.
Qetesh normally hunt in large groups and not too far from its drone controller.
