Banu Fleet
Banu ship showcase hero image
Protectorate tradecraft

Banu CRAFT

The Banu approach ships the way they approach commerce: practical, ornate, resilient, and built around exchange. The Merchantman carries the market. The Defender keeps the route open.

LineageBanu Souli
FocusTrading & Hauling
MerchantmanTrade bazaar
DefenderEscort Fighter
Merchantman / Interstellar bazaar

Banu Merchantman

In Concept

The Merchantman is the Banu idea of commerce at capital scale: a durable, high-speed trade ship that can land or dock, open its enclosed bazaar, and invite buyers directly into the ship's marketplace. Its appeal is not just cargo volume, but presentation, negotiation, and the sense that the vessel itself is part showroom, part fortress, part generational heirloom.

Banu Merchantman ship artwork
StatusIn concept
CareerTransport
Crew4-8
Cargo2,880 SCU
Dimensions160 x 160 x 65m
Defense2x S3 shields

Onboard bazaar

The enclosed bazaar is the ship's centrepiece. A dedicated trading floor where goods are displayed, deals are opened, and buyers come to the cargo rather than the other way around.

Negotiation room

Meet clients while overlooking the cargo bay and the merchandise that seals the deal.

Concealed power

Hidden weaponry and heavy armor let the Merchantman stay low-key until trouble arrives.

Commerce architecture

Built as a marketplace first, cargo hauler second

The Merchantman transforms commerce into spectacle. Inventory, market floor, client reception, and protection live inside one commanding Banu vessel, creating a mobile trading house that feels as prestigious as it is practical. The enclosed bazaar displays goods with ceremony, while the negotiation room turns every cargo hold into part of the pitch.

That makes the Merchantman especially different from Human modular haulers: it is less about endlessly reconfigurable containers and more about arriving with a ready-made commercial environment, a prestigious silhouette, and enough cargo volume to make the stop matter.

Role focusBazaar ship

A commercial venue with its own onboard marketplace.

Scale cueLarge hull

Built around cargo, visitors, crew, and protection.

Onboard bazaar Negotiation room Concealed power
Banu Merchantman exterior profile
Banu Merchantman bazaar and cargo staging
Operating profile

Speed, armor, and the will to survive

Perfected across generations of Banu development, the Merchantman brings speed, durability, and ceremonial trade into one rare hull. It is more than a freighter. It is an inherited asset, a traveling bazaar, and a statement of commercial power.

The defensive story is just as important as the commercial one. The Merchantman is famous for armor, shields, fast engines, and concealed weapons that let it survive piracy attempts while protecting the internal cargo and the reputation of the souli operating it.

Transport 2,880 SCU In Concept
Banu Merchantman trade-route flight profile

Merchantman Ships

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Defender / Merchant escort

Banu Defender

Flight Ready

The Defender is the Merchantman's blade in formation: a small two-seat combat ship built to protect Banu trade interests and fly alongside the larger hauler. Its mix of Banu craft, Xi'an thruster influence, Tevarin shielding, and Singe tachyon cannons gives it a distinctive alien profile: agile, quick, compact, and ready to keep threats away from the deal.

Banu Defender ship artwork
StatusFlight ready
RoleLight fighter
Crew1-2
Cargo0 SCU
Dimensions24.5 x 24.5 x 5m
Speed1,175 m/s max

Escort purpose

Designed specifically to fly with the Merchantman. Fast enough to intercept threats before they reach the larger ship, and agile enough to avoid becoming a target itself.

Alien systems

Xi'an thruster technology shapes how it moves, Tevarin shielding covers its defensive profile, and Banu Singe cannons define how it strikes. No single species built this ship alone.

Singe cannons

Four S3 Singe tachyon cannons on VariPuck gimbals are the Defender's primary armament, positioned at the nose and built specifically for the escort role.

Escort doctrine

Fast enough to force a bad choice

The Defender is designed around a very specific Banu problem: the Merchantman has tremendous cargo and presence, but it needs escorts that can hold attackers at distance long enough for the larger ship to reposition or escape. The Defender answers with speed, agility, range, and a small interior that supports longer escort legs than many fighters of similar size.

Its tactical value is pressure. Raiders must decide whether to waste time pinning down an agile escort or absorb the Defender's fire while trying to focus the Merchantman. That hesitation is the whole point.

SCM speed222 m/s

Listed flight speed reference.

Role logicEscort

Built to protect larger Banu trade ships.

Escort purpose Alien systems Singe cannons
Banu Defender escort flight profile
Banu Defender weapon and component detail
Banu pragmatism

Built by many races

The Defender's design reflects Banu pragmatism: if another culture's technology helps the ship, the Banu use it. Xi'an thruster influence gives the fighter its movement character, Tevarin shielding supports its light defensive profile, and Banu Singe cannons supply the recognizable weapon identity.

The result is a ship that reads less like a pure manufacturer doctrine and more like a souli's working solution: protect the trade route, preserve the cargo, and use whatever proven technology makes the escort better at that job.

Light fighter 24.5 x 24.5 x 5m Flight Ready
Banu Defender dual cockpit and interior range profile

Defender

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