Scraper

As mining operations pushed outward, the limitations of the Surveyor quickly became apparant to the fledgeling colonies. It was not suited to retrieve a large amount of cargo, and it could not operate autonomously for more than a few days, which limited their operations to roughly 50 kilometers around a friendly port. This hurt Kusari in particular - which was already starting to near the limits of the asteroid fields in range of New Tokyo. Samuran engineers began modifying a few Surveyor ships, adding a dedicated mining array in a forward assembly, and replacing the existing one with additional storage and life support. Thus the "Risosugyazara" was born in 180 AS, although it quickly gained the nickname "Scraper" among it's pilots. As it was still far from clear wether the colonies would thrive, Kusari, in a never repeated act of generosity, shared the design with all the four Houses, so that humanity itself would have a better chance at survival. The design was quickly adopted in all of Sirius.

Although over the years improvements have been made, the basic design is still the same. A small mining array and processor in the nose of the craft can pre-refine most minerals, and the robotic claws that provide its nickname can still be employed to latch the vessel to a medium sized asteroid, while either concussion torpedos or a large-scale blaster tears it to pieces. As with the Surveyor, miners have been known to employ their tools defensively, and over the years the upsurge in piracy has prompted mining companies to fit some defensive weapons to their Scrapers.

Hardpoints

 * 2 Class 9 Guns
 * 4 Class 10 Guns
 * 1 Class 1 Turret
 * 1 Cruise Disruptor OR Fighter Torpedo