Usurper

Locked: prestige hull reserved for pilots who have earned a secret achievement.

The first commission arrived with a pirate captain's command chair strapped to a freight pallet. Its new owner wanted a ship built around it. The yard kept the chair, discarded the plans for a second throne room, and used the space for a casualty station. That arrangement survived into the production drawings. An Usurper carries a boarding company close behind its armored prow, with short routes from the launch locks to surgery and the ready rooms. Three gun mounts give its captain a hand in opening the way, but the ship's expensive work begins when shooting stops. In the surviving original, someone has carefully upholstered over the bullet holes in the chair. The armrests still belong to the previous owner.