Ship Lore

[Thexare]

Renzu Corp. "Ki" High-Performance Shuttlecraft (discontinued)
Renzu Corp. "Saishi" Escort Fighter
Renzu Corp. "Sutinga" Heavy Escort
Renzu Corp. "Touketsu" Escort Bomber
Renzu Corp. "Anki" Freighter
Renzu Corp. Shukensha-class Luxury Liner

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History

The Renzu Corporation, a humble business concern that has survived the centuries amongst giants of industry¹, has long produced small runs of civilian craft. Though Samura and Kishiro often attempted to portray their Renzu rivals as a budget, foreigner-influenced shipwright, many younger pilots were drawn to the innovative craft. These same pilots would often stop at Roppongi Station, leading to Interspace Commerce taking notice of the small-but-persistent manufacturer.

In 805 AS Interspace invested considerable funding into Renzu, and later partnered with them to expand their production lines and distribution network. Orbital Spa & Cruise were the first major new customer; Renzu craft were already known to perform well and didn't have the perception of sterile corporate design that affected the CTE escort line. With Interspace ensuring parts availability, they were a perfect fit for the Sirius-spanning travel company.

The spaceborne Renzu Shipyards were finally completed in 816 AS. Most of the delays between Interspace's investment and the project commencing in 813 were related to licensing issues owing to Samura-backed obstruction.

While the Ki was an exceptionally popular craft with agility only rivalled within Kusari by the Hayabusa, the tragic 813 AS crash in California led to Renzu pulling the model. Though the race's two Ki-flying participants survived, they believed it would be politically expedient, and good PR, to pull a craft known to be in wide use by racers. They have received several inquiries about returning the model to the market, which have only become more common now that DSE has resumed Starblazer sales.

The Anki is the oldest Renzu design still in production, though continually updated to modern standards. The Gas Miners Guild and Independent Miners Guild have purchased a large number of them, using them primarily as mobile communications arrays in the border worlds.

The Saishi escort fighter is Renzu's lightest craft. Its tall-and-narrow design makes it very well-suited to travel around dense cities, and an effective combat vessel as well. Too effective, according to many pirates. It lacks some space in comparison to its rivals, especially the Falcon, but the performance more than compensates in the eyes of many.

Due to the Saish's remarkable performance, the Touketsu was built off the same basic frame. Renzu engineers acquired several Broadswords for use as an engineering reference; though they had no intention of making the Touketsu a modular craft, the Saishi frame simply had no room for further expansion. Auxiliary generators were added to the wing pods and engines were added to offset the extra weight. It wasn't quite enough. They had intended for the Touketsu to be a viable strike fighter, but it was simply too bulky for the job. Another team devised the Sutinga while the Touketsu development team retooled the craft as a light bomber instead - a role it performed much more capably.

The Shukensha-class luxury liner is Renzu's newest craft, and is by far the most expensive ship on the civilian market. Though the hull and superstructure are constructed in the typical heavy-machinery-and-robots manner, much of the interior detail and nearly all of the furnishings are hand-crafted. The second Shukensha to leave the shipyard was purchased by the Hogosha, who now employ the ship was the Golden Dragon Casino.

1. Interspace Commerce Market Research dictates that Renzu Corporation always be referred to in this way at least once in all marketing material.

Variations

Interspace Commerce has an exclusive distribution agreement for these craft and very aggressive lawyers. Variations are limited to what Renzu produces, and Renzu doesn't produce variants. However, a handful of the old strike fighter Touketsus are still in use by OS&C for patrols, and Shukensha-class liners are all built to the specific requests of the individual buyer.

Maintenance and Reliability

The Touketsu is prone to power conduit failures between the auxiliary generators and main power, but has enough redundancies to safely return to a dock for repairs. Newer models are generally more reliable, of course, but a number of early-run bomber Touketsus are still employed. While the Touketsu employs a similar generator arrangement to the Broadsword, the Touketsu's primary generator is still in the main body and the pods carry auxiliary generators. This is the opposite of the Broadsword's arrangement,.

Older models of the Saishi had severely overtuned maneuvering thrusters. While some pilots were able to adapt to this, this still resulted in a significant additional fuel expenditure, and most corporate Saishis had the sensitivity dialed back to cut costs and be easier to train pilots. These adjustments have become standardized in the 826 AS model.

The Sutinga is a high-performance craft known for capable performance in nebulae and clouds. Early Sutingas needed similar frequent maintenance to other craft after nebula flight, but all post-819 Sutingas have special filters and sealing similar to what the Gas Miners Guild employs.

The Anki's electronics and communications systems tend to have brief periods of frequent firmware updates followed by a few months of no patching. The general opinion of Anki owners is that if it's been at least two weeks since the last patch, you're probably in the clear for five or six months. Replacing the hardware is easy and encouraged when there's an upgrade, and Renzu offers a trade-in program to further simplify the process.

Perception

Outside of Kusari, Renzu craft are widely associated with OSC and, through them, luxury. Within Kusari, they're commonly associated with foreign influences by ultra-traditionalists. In both cases, freelancers flying them are sometimes assumed to have more flash than substance and more credits than sense.

Special Notes

Interspace ensures all of its bases have a significant stock of Renzu repair equipment and replacement parts. As a result, they're easy to operate across all of Sirius. The unique parts used make them somewhat uncommon with criminal organizations, however, as they rarely have access to those bases.