Drake Clipper – Lone-Wolf Generalist with Teeth
Every manufacturer in the ‘verse has a philosophy. Aegis leans into militarized precision, Origin chases prestige, Crusader tries to reconcile elegance with practicality. Drake, on the other hand, has always felt like it was built for the people who refuse to tick a single box on a form. Its ships are loud, industrial, rough-edged—and rarely interested in playing just one role.
The Drake Clipper, unveiled at IAE 2955, is that philosophy distilled into a single, tall, unapologetically odd hull. It’s the ship for pilots who don’t want their evenings mapped out before they leave the hangar; a generalist in the purest sense. Not a miner, not a dedicated hauler, not a pure combat ship—just one tough, capable platform that’s happy to see where the day goes.
Between Cutter and Corsair
In Drake’s lineup, the Clipper lives in the space between the Cutter and the Corsair—both in size and in spirit.
Where the Cutter is a grounded starter with strong utility, and the Corsair is a brawling multi-crew explorer, the Clipper is a solo captain’s machine. It’s built for the player who wants to roam, take contracts as they come, and still have enough onboard capability to survive a bad decision or two.
Its profile is instantly recognizable:
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A tall, narrow silhouette that looks more like a vertical blade than a conventional ship.
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Long, asymmetric wings that extend out horizontally in flight, then fold in with the landing gear for hangar clearance.
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Huge rear engines and three prominent side thrusters that look very much like they were bolted on wherever there was room.
It’s brutalist, angular, almost awkward in places—and that’s exactly what makes it feel so unmistakably Drake.
Cargo Bay: Work Floor First, Everything Else Second
The tour starts the Drake way: up the ramp, into the cargo bay.
This lower deck is pure function. The ramp drops forward on one side, revealing heavy hydraulics, bolted panels, and industrial fans. Inside, the bay carries up to 12 SCU of cargo, sized ideally around 1–2 SCU crates. It isn’t a dedicated freighter, but it’s more than enough to support light trading, mission loot, supplies, or crafting materials.
Ceiling detail drives home the tone: exposed piping, structural ribs, and “gribbles” everywhere—nothing smoothed over or hidden. It feels like a working room where containers slam in, boots clatter on metal, and grease never quite leaves the floor.
At the rear of the hold, a ladder leads up to the mid deck, and that’s where the Clipper starts to show how much it has packed into such a slender footprint.
Engineering: The Heart of the Machine
Drake engineering spaces have always been atmospheric, but the Clipper’s two-tier engineering deck takes that idea and leans into it.
Stepping off the ladder, the ship feels hotter, denser. The lighting is low and moody, with moving machinery, subtle motion in the environment, and enough exposed hardware to make it clear that this is where the work gets done. It’s not a quiet systems room; it’s the engine room of a working vessel, humming, rattling, and breathing.
Because the hull is so narrow, engineering is split across two floors. Instead of forcing components up and down ladders, Drake solved it in the most Drake way possible:
a trapdoor system in the floor, paired with a tractor beam.
Pull a heavy mechanical lever, and the trapdoor swings open with a satisfying clunk. Components can be lowered or raised through the opening using a tractor beam, rather than wrestling them through cramped hatches. It’s a simple, physical solution that fits perfectly with the ship’s overall industrial character.
A Medical Bay You Don’t Want to Wake Up In
Further forward, the Clipper reveals one of its most interesting spaces: Drake’s idea of a medical bay.
Where most medical environments in the ‘verse lean toward sterile white surfaces and clinical calm, this one looks more like a spacefaring butcher’s room. The floor is a deep, heavy red, industrial rather than clean. The room feels like it has history—more “patch them up and shove them back in the fight” than “welcome back, patient.”
Underneath the aesthetic, though, it’s important hardware:
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A Tier 3 medical bed, capable of treating minor injuries.
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Support for short-range regeneration, giving the Clipper’s owner a critical safety net during solo operations.
It isn’t a full medical ship, and it’s not somewhere anyone would choose to wake up if they had a better option. But as a last resort—somewhere between a medpen and a station clinic—it’s exactly what a lone pilot needs.
Fabricator Room: Future-Proof Utility
Adjacent to the medical bay sits another key feature: the fabricator room.
The Clipper includes an integrated crafting station—a gameplay feature slated to evolve over time. On initial implementation, it’s expected to handle smaller personal items, with the intent that its capabilities expand as the wider crafting system matures.
Crucially, this fabricator is built into the ship without sacrificing the 12 SCU cargo capacity. There’s no choice between storage and utility—the Clipper offers both, using the vertical arrangement of its decks to squeeze maximum function out of its limited footprint.
The ship’s design anticipates future gameplay loops: crafting from resources in the cargo grid, feeding the fabricator directly or manually stocking it, and treating the ship as a roaming workshop rather than just a transport hull.
Habitation: No Frills, Just Honest Metal
Higher up, the habitation area continues the industrial theme.
There’s no pretense of luxury here. Exposed pipes snake along the walls, wiring runs where it needs to, and paneling is more concerned with access than aesthetics. Drake’s usual approach—form follows function—feels even more pronounced in the Clipper.
Despite that, the hab setup is complete. It’s a fully self-contained living space for long trips away from safe ports: a bunk, storage, places to stash weapons and armor, and a layout that supports staying aboard for extended stretches.
A dedicated armor closet and weapon storage is tucked near the scissor lift, reinforcing the idea that this is a ship where one person can live, work, fight, and patch up without ever needing to swap hulls.
Cockpit and View: Analog in a Digital Age
At the very top, right up front, sits the cockpit—a classic Drake piece, but with some distinctive touches.
The canopy is a cage of angular glass, providing a panoramic view of the space ahead and below. It’s roomy for a solo ship, giving the pilot the feeling of sitting in a forward observation blister rather than a cramped control pod.
The UI surfaces reflect a deliberate analog-inspired design:
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Slightly curved screens that evoke old CRT displays.
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Physical-seeming buttons and glowing indicator lights.
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A control layout that feels tactile, almost mechanical, despite being fully digital under the hood.
The result is an interior that feels grounded and lived-in—modern systems wrapped in a cockpit that looks like it was built by people who still trust switches more than touchscreens.
Flight Profile and Firepower
For all its cargo space and utility slots, the Clipper doesn’t leave itself defenseless.
On the offensive side, it brings:
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Four Size 3 pilot weapons
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A suite of missile racks:
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3x S3 racks (1x S3 each)
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2x S3 racks (2x S2 each)
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3x S3 racks (4x S1 each)
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It isn’t a pure brawler, but in typical Drake fashion, it carries more than enough firepower to swat away threats, engage opportunistic combat, or hold its own while extracting from dangerous territory.
Atmospherically, the ship’s broad wingspan hints at strong aerodynamic lift once control surface mechanics fully come online. There are no dedicated VTOL thrusters, so it’s expected to behave more like a plane in-atmosphere—a flying blade that prefers forward motion and good approach planning. On landing, the wings fold in sync with the landing gear, ensuring hangar clearance without manual fiddling.
A Generalist’s Home in the Drake Lineup
The Clipper doesn’t try to out-haul dedicated freighters. It doesn’t try to out-fight bespoke gunships. It doesn’t chase the hospital-tier medical niche or the hyper-specialization of industrial careers.
Instead, it stitches together:
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12 SCU of cargo for light hauling and supplies
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A Tier 3 med bed for battlefield recovery and regeneration
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An integrated fabricator for future crafting loops
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Full habitation for extended solo operations
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Accessible engineering that feels like the beating heart of a machine
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Solid weapons and missiles for self-defense and skirmishes
It’s a ship for generalists, drifters, freelancers, and solo captains who like their options open and their ships a little rough around the edges. A vertical slice of Drake’s identity—odd, industrial, densely packed with utility—and, for many on the dev team, a standout of the IAE 2955 roster.
