The Dagger is a corvette class gunship/bomber by Orion Arms Industries. While OAI does mostly exclusively military contracts and is the Terran Protectorate's primary starship designer and supplier, the Dagger was one of the few cases where the company was allowed to sell both a military and "civilian" version. The military version is used as a patrol corvette and tactical bomber. It is a little ship designed to knock out bigger targets and to defend Protectorate territory. While usually the Stellar Navy requests a specific ship and then Orion Arms designs it, in this case OAI designed the ship and then pitched it to the military. It fills the gap between pinnace and frigate, with long-range capabilities a pinnace does not have, and a nimbleness, flexibility and speed not seen in most frigates. It is also economical and easy to mass produce. The military version is armed with a nose-mounted missile launcher capable of firing anti-ship torpedoes. The nose has an internal magazine for four, typically Halberd Anti-Ship Missiles, or Indra Tactical Thermonuclear EM-Guided Bombs. The "civilian" version has had the launcher remove and the nose turned into extra cargo space, though some mercs have a heavy launcher built back into it. Both versions are armed with two forward particle beam cannons, six 180mm missile tubes with an internal magazine of 24 Starfire-6 AMRAAM ship-to-ship missiles, and three light ion turrets for point defense. The military version also has more advanced electrocounter measures and both have excellent sensor suites. The ship is short on luxuries, with bunk beds built right into the walls of the central hallway. But long trips for its crew of seven to 12 are usually meant to be taken in stasis. It has a range of 30 light years, and a max FTL speed of 400C. The ship is popular among mercenary groups consisting of former Terran Protectorate naval personnel and privateers flying under the Terran Protectorate letter of marque. The ship closest to the camera in the image above is the Valkyrie Vixen, a merc ship. The ship in the background is the New Texas Rose, with a traditional milspec paint job. THe Dagger's biggest competitor in the paramilitary corvette market is Kugler-Vaughn's Commando corvette. While popular in the Terran Protectorate, sales have suffered in the Free Colonies because of its close association with the Stellar Navy. While the Free Colonies and the Protectorate are on friendly terms, most Free Colonies spacers turn their nose up at a design that's screams Stellar Navy. This also hurts it with alien buyers as well, but the market inside the Protectorate and among Protectorate-aligned mercenary groups is still brisque enough to keep the design very profitable for Orion Arms.