RMF-3 "Auk" Sea Fighter

The RMF-3 "Auk" Sea Fighter is an amphibious fighter autogyro that can also use terrestrial landing strips and be deployed from carrier airships, giving it exceptional operational flexibility.
The Auk is designed and manufactured by Rostrax Aerostat & Aerodyne primarily for use by the Rostran Archipelago Confederacy Marine Forces and Rostran Archipelago Confederacy civil defense corps, though many examples in more or less functional condition have also found their way into the hands of the Avarix Corps pirates in the Red Velvet Desert. Older iterations of the aircraft (RMF-1 and -2) are popular on the secondary market, with members of the Sorority of Solace and Burning Hearts Social Club being the most common non-Rostran owners.

Propulsion

The Auk is a push-driven autogyro with a surprisingly powerful engine, the latter trait necessitated by its more massive amphibious hull and pontoons. As an autogyro, the Auk emphasizes tight turns over speed. Given the limited size of cube layers in the Manifold, exceptional speed and long taxi distances are considered a disadvantage except when pilots are specially trained for this (i.e. in the fast, guerilla warfare oriented Grand Army of Voxelia). Even so, the Auk is notable for its dive speed, which it uses to focus fire onto land- or sea-based targets. This tendency is the origin of the craft's designation as the 'Auk,' as the auks found in Rostral D are all diving pursuit hunters.

Weapons & Armament

An Auk is typically equipped with twin 18mm grease guns for aerial combat and surface strafing, with one fixed in the nose and the other on a pintle mount for use by a gunner or copilot. The pintle may be locked forward if no second crew member is available, and indeed must be locked forward at high altitude to allow the passenger compartment canopy to close. Both guns and the pintle are removed in civilian versions, though some buyers reattach them for their own purposes.
The Auk is capable of carrying small bombs and is sometimes used as a dive bomber in fire support roles. The limited carrying capacity of the craft, however, puts a hard cap on how much ordinance it can carry. Typical bomb loads include small anti-personnel bombs or mines, though the RACMF sometimes skirts the Medial B Accords by employing incendiary bombs against targets on water or in other environments where fires are unlikely to spread beyond the target (i.e. The Everswamp

Armor and defense

The Auk's armor is quite limited due to its limited carrying capacity. Most of the vehicle's defense stems from the concealment provided by the pontoons and aquatic-streamlined outer shell layer. There are also known blind spots in the Auk's weapons coverage; the rotor and rotor mast block part of the pintle-mounted gun's arc, and an Auk without bombs has little recourse against opponents beneath and behind it. As an autogyro, however, the aircraft can often land via auto-rotation even if its power plant is completely destroyed, and repair and maintenance costs are very low.

Sensors

The second pintle-mounted gun is sometimes replaced with a scope and camera apparatus for reconnaisance work. The ability of the Auk to operate over land, sea, and air makes it uniquely suited for this role. In theory, reconnaisance-equipped Auks could use their radio systems to coordinate with ground forces, such as MF-A2 "Kirie" Traversal Auto Armor, ANF-1 "Angler Fish" Amphibious Special Duty Tank, and artillery crews to absolutely dominate the land within a cube layer.

Hangars & docked vessels

The Auk's rotor mast is capped with an extendable hook designed to catch the launch trapeeze of a carrier airship, allowing the aircraft to hitch rides into other tesseracts through inflection layers. The Auk can technically traverse commissures unassisted as such, but this demands such a degree of skill from its pilot that only veteran navigator's guild pilots reliably succeed at it.

by BCGR_Wurth

Nickname

Auk

Designation

RMF-3

Manufacturer

Rostrax Aerostat & Aerodyne

Military Formation Usage

• Rostran Archipelago Confederacy Marine Forces

Rarity

Common

Complement / Crew

1 pilot

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

1 copilot, gunner, or passenger; 100 lbs cargo max (pontoon compartments)