Jack of Harts

The important thing to remember is that Texas Rangers are a peacekeeping organization. Yes, they can fight, and they can fight well at need be, but their primary mission is to keep the peace by diffusing situations that could threaten the common peace. Their primary area of focus is Texas and her colonies, but they have secondary jurisdictions throughout the Western Alliance. They often work with other Rangers, Knights Errant, Cowboys, or other similar organizations in the Alliance. As the common meme goes, when a Star Fury, a Starfighter, and an Avenger comes into town, there is liable to be some excitement in the near future. If more than one of each shows up, or if other similar organizations join the party, the virtual certainty of excitement increases on a logarithmic scale.

The F-2 Star Furies that the Rangers flew to War’s End were far different than those they first pulled out of mothballs in the Pre-War decades. The footage of Ranger Star Furies exploding out of hyperspace to fire upgraded missile launchers, greatly enhanced ring-array lasers, powerful gravitic cannons, and hard points carrying the most dangerous of heavy weapons was broadcast throughout the Republic of Texas and beyond. The highest rated footage depicted entire Ranger squadrons focusing all of their gravitic and laser fire on a single target as they accelerated towards the enemy at maximum burn. Though highly unrealistic due to Hollywood-style special effects, they became the way an entire generation saw the Texas Rangers. Peacekeepers in time of peace, deadly and relentless warriors in time of War.

The Republic of Texas Rangers felt a need to increase the combat capabilities of their F-2 Star Furies when The War came upon us all, so they upgraded their fighters with a pair of external hard points similar to those being added to other Texas starfighters. These could be used to carry heavy anti-ship weapons, though in practice the Rangers most often did so only when taking part in a major fleet engagement. They’ve found far more inventive uses for the hard points over the decades, from expanded fuel tanks to ground attack weapons. Some have even deployed entire ground attack teams or vehicles, while others carried powerful scanners for deep space exploration missions or ECM systems that can fool even enemy capital ships. There is an entire industry devoted to providing every possible wish a Ranger might have when it comes to using those hard points, and many fortunes have been made and lost doing so.