The Dragonfly Light Freighter, or “Fatso”, as it was more commonly known among the merchant pilots and traders, formed the backbone of the space economy.
Small, cheap, relatively fast, with a good cargo hold and requiring a crew of just two people, it was the transport vehicle of choice for most of the small businesses of the pre-war era.
Dragonfly was originally unveiled with much pomp at the annual space and automotive festival SpaceCarExpo (SCE) at the Moon by the CEO of Volksraumschiffe Berndt von Georgy-Obrit. It was presented as the sleek solution to the problem of affordable freighter-class spacecraft. The name “Dragonfly”, however, left most of the audience bemused. The ship looked fat, inelegant and bulky, not resembling the beautiful insects of Earth at all. Reviewers, commentators and the general public had a field day, with “Fatso the dragonfly” quickly becoming meme.
Interestingly enough, the negative press seems to have helped sell the ship in the end. It became a darling of artists, independents, anarchists and others attracted to the story of an ugly underdog despised by the mainstream. And once in the hands of actual people, it quickly became apparent that Fatso, for all its ugly looks, actually performed really well at its tasks. And the word spread.
For a relatively cheap ship Fatso was also pretty well equipped. Two large-array antennas on the top provided the much needed communication capabilities, while the spacious front with the two half-domes contained a comfortable living area for two pilots. The storage area had both a pressurized / heated section and a cold storage part, as well as a secure area not accessible to the pilots.
Thanks to the large anti-gravity plates mounted at the back and middle-section of the ship, the Dragonfly was fully capable of atmospheric flight, including vertical landing and takeoff. This gave it a lot of versatility and made it a popular choice for a wide range of scenarios.
All in all, Fatso was a tremendous success in the end, its shaky beginnings forgotten. During the War, it was used extensively as a small military transport as well as a smuggling ship.
Any working Dragonflies found now would be worth more than a small fleet.
“Is that a bird?”
“Or is it a plane?”
“No, it’s the new Volksraumschiffe Dragonfly!”
“Ach, Hans, I am so happy! Finally, we will be able to deliver good quickly, cheaply and comfortably!”
“Indeed, Gretchen, the future has arrived!”
“The Volksraumschiffe Dragonfly! Now in gray. Please contact your local dealer for details.”
– the official Dragonfly radio commercial
Notes
- I guess this one might be stretching the “little” part a bit
- All the parts required for this build can be found in the AT-DP set.
- Some things could be much improved by using bricks from other sets, but I wanted to limit myself
- I’ve been further limited by my son, who took almost a half of the set for himself to build the Meosakeotlam speeder and refused to share, threatening violence upon my person. The little darling, I love him so.
- The background story was mostly inspired by the fact that my wife, upon hearing that I decided to proudly call it “Dragonfly” bluntly stated “but it is fat”. The beautiful darling. I love her so.