The Blue Shogunate's main fighter-class spacecraft.
About this creation
The main fighter class for the Blue Shogunate Starfleet, the Fire Blossom lives up to its name. Normally, its wings have a delta configuration, but, when it attacks, the wings hinge appart (an operation its pilots refer to as "blossoming"), revealing its eight solid-state laser cannons. This feature not only allows a Fire Blossom to reach high speeds in an atmosphere, it also lets the fighter fly through a Blue Shogunate stargate.
Do you see the katana mounted on the ship? That's where they keep them. It's weird, but it looks cool.
Blossom in normal flight mode.
She opens a litte bit.
Full bloom.
Now give 'em hell.
Viewed from a slightly higher angle.
Blossom on her back.
Legs up.
Toes pointed.
Feet flat. As you can see, she has landing gear.
The engines. Fire Blossoms have non-thrust based propulsion.
Not sure why I took this. I should really replace that round trans-orange piece with a square gray piece. Right now it looks like the thing has eyes.
Samurai in cockpit.
Cockpit without samurai. See the two control knobs? Yeah, that's all he needs. His filght helmet has a built-in HUD, so screen are unnecessary. I couldn't put any other controls in there without exposing him to the vaccuum of space whenever the guns are fired.
Samurai posing in front of his craft.
Visor up, so we can see his shining face.
A nice shot of that hot samurai booty, plus a look at his scabbard.