Ximni Light Cruiser

The Ximni are one of the most advanced races the TSN has encountered. While there have been conflicts between the Ximni and the USFP, they are considered valuable allies, and many Terrans serve on Ximni ships, and vice versa. Their most common spacecraft is the Ximni Light Cruiser, a warship slightly more powerful than its TSN counterpart. It is quite maneuverable, with powerful impulse drives and gravitic maneuvering systems similar to TSN technology.

Its shields are comparable to the TSN Light Cruiser, and its weapons systems are designed to work well with jump drive. It has 3 beams covering a much wider arc, with the center beam boasting a slightly longer range. Only the forward beam can fire straight ahead, so the Light Cruiser must flank an enemy on the left or right to target it with two beams, and it cannot fire all three against the same target. It also carries torpedo weaponry with a wide range of ordinance types.

The distinctive ring in the center of the Ximni Light Cruiser is the ship's powerful jump drive. Unlike TSN ships, which specialize with warp drives, the Ximni have developed a unique mastery of combat jump maneuvers. The Ximni Light Cruiser has the ability to build up the energy for a jump and store it in its jump coils, maintaining this energy during battle. This stored energy both reduces the cost of a jump, by about half compared to TSN ships, and reduces the countdown time, eliminating both for the so-called "Combat Jump" (Unfortunately, the Combat Jump still causes a four second blackout period, during which the ship is blind)

Although the Ximni Light Cruiser can be refitted with warp drive, its space frame is not designed for warp travel. It will use about 20% more energy to travel at warp than a TSN Light Cruiser would, and will not get all the advantages of a Ximni ship with jump drive. Unless there is a reason to use warp drive in a Ximni ship (such as to keep up with a fleet of TSN ships) the Ximni crew should make sure to select Jump Drive when selecting their ship.

The Ximni Light Cruiser is equipped with the same sophisticated power allocation system as its TSN counterpart, allowing the ship's engineer to adjust the flow of power from the ship's generators. The ship is also equipped with advanced science equipment, and communication systems with the same capabilities as TSN ships. 

In Artemis 2.7, the Light Cruiser's role as a long range patrol vessel was expanded with the addition of probes, tags, and beacons. These new torpedo types open up new possibilities for dealing indirectly with enemy forces, such as by setting up a beacon to attract monsters into an area where they can defend the sector. Artemis 2.7.1 finalized this supply of ordinance at 5 of each, giving the Light Cruiser class a large supply of probes and other scientific instruments, second only to the Scout.