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The ZH-25 Questor is the successor to the ever popular Z-10 Seeker. And was on the market at least a year after the Battle of Yavin. Its development was announced two years after the first Z-10s began rolling off the assembly lines. Upon realization that their Z-10 had been a great and surprising success in the freighter market, Starfeld decided to design a dedicated freighter, while using the Z-10 and its lightweight principles as the basis. These principles were then improved upon to produce a more reliable craft. Effectively, this design incorporates the Z-10's fuselage with two additional hull sections. Like its successful predecessor, ZH-25 sales have been strong and steady. Despite the fairly expensive asking price, Starfeld's factories are barely able to meet current demand. As of yet, this craft is not commonly available on used ship lots. In its advertisement campaign, Starfeld boasted that the ZH-25's long flight endurance would allow spacers to continue to operate while their competition had to stop for refueling. In addition to honouring the Z-10's enduring feature of longevity, the marketing campaign also focused upon the ZH-25's passenger and cargo transport capabilities. What sets the ZH-25 apart from the Z-10 Seeker, is that the former is designed with hauling cargo in mind. It features improved power generation and life support, and a 100 percent increase of cargo pod size. Its two cargo pods have been integrated into the ship's structure. And are protected by the same hull plating found on the rest of the ship. Over 55 various types of bio-technologies were employed in its life support system. While extra space was gained, the ship's mass increased by almost 300 percent. To help offset this a more powerful engine, that is still relatively inexpensive was fitted. The JV-74 boasts three additional collision tube pairs. Set above and below the original ion drive exhaust outlets are the additional thrust nacelles. Even with the more powerful engines, the ZH-25 is slower and slightly less manoeuvrable than its predecessor. Manoeuvrability would have been worse, if not for the superstructure layout being relatively transverse to the ship's flight path. However, it must be noted that this design is slightly more rapid than the freighter industry standard. As an interesting note, this craft is quite flexible in accepting numerous types of in flight refueling devices. Performance metrics and specifications of its hyperdrive are unaltered, save for the modifications to take into account the increased space displacement. Most flaws that befell the Z-10 were corrected in this design. Deficiencies in armament and protection were amended. The Taim & Bak Pulse Laser Cannons arming the ZH-25, a favoured weapon among Corellian designs eliminated the sensor blackout issue, thanks to their independent targeting/firing computers. Directly forward of the cargo pods, and found on either side of the main fuselage are the pulse lasers. Although the stock model possesses only forward facing armament, this craft is sufficiently agile to position itself into a killing position against its opposition. Much to the relief of Starfeld's marketing staff, the demise of Miradyne precluded the inclusion of the RCS flight computer. As a result, the ZH-25 flight control systems allow much more leeway in regards to additional system installations. Although its engineering is not of simple efficiency, compared to its predecessor it is much more tinker-friendly. Supplemental weaponry are among the most common system additions. Even without supplemental arms, the ZH-25 is considered to be a sufficiently armed design. During development, Starfeld soon came to realize the ZH-25's price would be beyond the reach of the private owner. In order to cut down production costs and reduce the price to more affordable levels, Starfeld chose to incorporate SoroSuub's sensor package over the more advanced (and considerably more powerful and effective) Fabritech package employed on the Z-10. It was reasoned that the Questor would unlikely see service in a scout role; and its superior defensive capabilities translated into requiring less forewarning of an impending attack. In addition to accepting a less elaborate sensor system, a large number of the advanced sensor-interpreting computer systems were omitted. With this in mind however, its stock sensor package is sufficient for most freighter mission profiles. The bridge, centrally located in the central forward portion, features two stations that are not tandem. Behind the cockpit is the tech centre. In the forward port side of the room is the refresher, while on the forward starboard side is storage space. Also contained within this compartment is the floor laser cannon access hatch. Situated behind the tech centre is the boarding ramp and loading bay. Both escape pods can be found in the forward port/starboard tips of the ship. The port segment, after the escape pod is the captain's quarters; which is followed by the crew quarters. Meanwhile, in the starboard segment, after the escape pod is the galley and common room. Sandwiched between the port/starboard tips, and the cockpit are the external cargo pods. Sandwiched between the two aft cargo bays is the ship's engineering bay. |
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Sources: AJ5***Pg 64-68 / PP***Pg 3, 59, 64 / SS***Pg 45-48, (Starfeld ZH-25 Questor Card) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||