Short Range Fighters

For use on starbase's as a short range defense against attacking enemy starships. Starships with fighter launch bays can carry fighters to attack enemy ships at ranges greater than torpedoes or beam weapons. A starbase can hold up to 60 fighters. Some larger carriers can hold over 200 fighters. All fighters fire very powerful tightly focused energy beams that do a good job of wearing down an opponent's shields and can punch holes in vital parts of enemy ships. Fighters are very good at defeating very large and heavily armored ships.

Fighters are destroyed by enemy fighters that can gain a weapons lock as the fighters passes within close range of each other as they close in on the enemy ship.

An enemy ship can fire a beam weapon at a fighter to destroy it. Very few ships, however, can defeat a large scale fighter attack with beam weapons alone.