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The AN-8C Nova Thrasher is a strategic heavy spacelifter manufactured by Corrilia. With a wide, ovular fuselage and massive size, it is designed for tactical spacelifting, facilitating the deployment of personnel and equipment in a space battle. Heavy armor, four turrets, and several missile batteries allow it to defend against small groups of fighters and bombers. Though its size, weight, and rear-mounted engines make it incapable of complex maneuvering, the four megaboosters provide extreme linear thrust to enable rapid drop-off and escape. Against most lightly guarded cargo convoys, a Nova with its escort is capable of single-handedly bringing down enemy resistance, loading up hostages and premium goods, and maneuvering outside of a system for pickup.
Because of its wide shape, up to two dozen Doomstorms or six Blackstars can be carried on its top and bottom, and refueled several times. A quintuple fuselage allows for three rear doors to open in flight without affecting structural integrity. At no point is the main cabin or pilot cabin exposed to vacuum when any of the three sub-cabins are open. This lets pilots in the cabins get to their ships using a series of safety lines when the Nova detects a target and begins its approach.
The Nova can go into a combination stealth/sleep mode that further extends the duration it can be deployed. When deployed on an asteroid (or other large mass) in this mode, it is impossible to differentiate the ship from the asteroid using non-visual means.
Its long operational time allows it to remain functional for an extended period of time without refueling, allowing it to be deployed far in advance of its use. This makes it popular with certain groups of pirates, as it allows groups of boarders, fighters, and bombers to be hidden in anticipation of a raid. They can then be used independently to monitor an area, or cordinate with a larger force to provide the element of surprise when a target distracted by or attempting to flee the main force.
The Nova is especially useful to pirates when targets use the gravitational properties of uninhabited solar systems to avoid encountering resistance, as it allows them to engage targets incapable of escaping to FTL.