Ship Details

The Esperia Blade is a Vanduul design produced by Esperia for military use. The Blade will be available as a concept sale from March 18, 2016 to March 28, 2016. Originally designed as an aggressor for Squadron 42, this Blade sale will allow it to be adapted for human flight in Star Citizen! The Blade is the Vanduul armada’s lightest fighter, focusing on maneuverability over shields and weapons. The Blade is the first concept ship of 2016 and the only additional

Vanduul ship currently being adapted for human flight. Watch for more concept ships from familiar manufacturers starting next month!

About the Blade

With over a quarter-millennia of recorded encounters, the Vanduul Blade is both one of the first of the species’ spacecraft encountered by the United Empire of Earth and one of the most common. A dedicated light fighter and skirmisher, earlier models of the Blade took part in the first raids on Human colonies in Orion. Although aspects of the design have been upgraded over the decades (and like all Vanduul ships, vary slightly from clan to clan) the modern variant has retained an extremely similar silhouette with improved control surfaces and more modern weapons attachment points. Tens of thousands of individual Blades have been destroyed over more than two centuries, and countless others have been tracked by Naval intelligence.

While the Blade’s more advanced cousins, the Scythe and its offshoots, have become iconic symbols of present-day Vanduul terror, the light fighter remains a hugely important supporting element of the Vanduul frontline fleet. The most notable feature of the Blade is its shifting wingspan, which ‘cuts’ between a streamlined travel mode and a more expansive battle mode. When in travel mode, the Blade lacks significant offensive punch but improves its direct speed and maneuverability; when in attack mode, the pilot has access to three forward-firing gun positions and a pair of missile racks.

For some decades, United Empire of Earth aggressor squadrons have operated replica Blade fighters produced under exclusive contract by Esperia, Inc. These spacecraft, produced in great quantity, have been used to train generations of fighter pilots for Vanduul engagements. Today, Esperia manufactures Scythe and Glaive clones for training and testing purposes, with most former Blades having been returned to the manufacturer for storage and disassembly. The so-called “Esperia Boneyard” (location classified) contains hundreds upon hundreds of used examples in varying states of disassembly. In the wake of the recent attack on Uriel, many of the Blade trade-ins produced in the past decade are being outfitted for frontier defense use, part of an extremely controversial program aimed at better-arming those threatened by alien attack.

About the Sale

This ship is being offered for the first time as a limited concept sale. This means that the ship design meets our specifications, but it is not yet ready to display in your Hangar or to fly in Star Citizen. The sale includes Lifetime Insurance on the ship hull and a pair of decorative items for your Hangar. A future patch will add a poster and then once the in-game model is finished, you will also be given an in-game scale ship model! In the future, the ship price will increase and the offer will not include Lifetime Insurance or these extras. Until the Blade is available in-game, owners will be granted a Vanduul Scythe loaner ship.

There will also be two Q&A posts next week: one on Wednesday and another on Friday. You can post your questions about the Esperia Vanduul Blade here.

Disclaimer

Remember: we are offering this pledge ship to help fund Star Citizen’s development. The ship itself and all decorative ‘flair’ items will also be available to acquire in the finished game world. The goal is to make additional ships available that give players a different experience rather than a particular advantage when the persistent universe launches.