You think that once the Night Heron-class is out, the job’s done, do you?

Let me ask you this: what about those two illegally modified Night Heron-class vessels that tried to take on the Subterranean Dragon-class—do you even want to…

Anyway, here he comes—The unofficially modified Night Heron-class vessel—the SSM-45W Battler-class

Overview

• Still built at a 1/1250 scale
• A Night Heron-class vessel that has been extensively customized by the Wanderer Fleet itself
  • Commonalities:
    • It retains the standard SSM-45 medium hull design of the Night Heron-class
    • It carries the same fixed armament as the SSM-45: the Roar Triple Railgun
  • Differences
    • Subsystems:
      • The port side has been fitted with the “Longbow Scout” target acquisition system
      • The starboard side has been upgraded with the “Riotous Destroyer” ultra‑heavy projectile launcher
    • A new logo: the Wanderer emblem
    • A dedicated baseplate designed specifically for this model
• Non-printed components: 6 x 2mm N52 strong magnets (4 in total)

Setting and Assembly Instructions

Background Story – “The Rampager”

The Asteroid Belt of Io – The Wanderer Fleet’s Secret “Ruins” Base

In Wang Chao’s dark web chat window, yet another seller popped up with a “Out of Stock” notification. He stared at the “Flagship-Grade Ammunition Feeder + Launch System” buy request on his screen, tapping his fingers lightly on the table—this was already the tenth seller who’d turned him down. Some claimed it was “too risky to sell,” while others quoted prices that could’ve bought half a Night Heron-class raid cruiser.

“So, old buddy, is my giant ship finally ready?” Mark Roger strode in, cigarette dangling from his lips, slamming a stack of black market fuel invoices onto the table. “The Blood Scorpion Gang snagged another shipment of our supplies yesterday—those damn pirates are getting more and more out of control. Sure, we’re stealing from other sources too, but according to pirate law, whoever grabs it first gets to keep it!”

“Don’t they think the same way?” Wang Chao said without lifting his head.

“Hey, you old coot…” Before Mark could finish his complaint, a strange encrypted window suddenly popped up in the bottom-right corner of the screen—a tiger icon clutching a gold coin, with just one message: “Looking for a flagship railgun? The Lion-6, complete with automatic loader—interested in chatting privately?”

“Who’s that?” Mark Roger leaned in, hand resting on the gun at his waist. “The Lion-6 is an ultra‑heavy land‑based cannon—its firepower is absolutely terrifying. Do you think it’ll work on our ships?”

“Didn’t I get you that thing before? It was a land‑based cannon too—shouldn’t be much of an issue. Let’s just go ahead and chat about pricing first,” Wang Chao replied. He promptly accepted the friend request.

The window went silent for two seconds, then a video of the ammunition feeder appeared—its metal casing gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen, the automatic loading arm smoothly locking into place with a simulated round. Then came a voice: “So, boss—what do you think?”

“It’ll do. What’s your name, boss—and how much does this thing cost?” Wang Chao frowned.

“Just call me ‘Tiger Grand Marshal,’” Tiger Grand Marshal replied quickly. “As for the price… give me a location, and I’ll deliver the ammunition feeder tomorrow. If it matches your ship, we can talk further; if not, just consider it like I never reached out—no loss for either side, right?”

“Tiger Grand Marshal… sounds familiar,” Mark Roger mused.

“He’s a well-known dark web financier, famous for his lavish spending—but he only ever contacts buyers directly, which is why so many people try to impersonate him and pull scams,” Wang Chao said, adjusting his electronic eyepiece.

Mark Roger tugged at Wang Chao’s arm and lowered his voice. “How about this—let’s take delivery first, test it out, and then negotiate the price if it really works?” Wang Chao didn’t object; he simply replied to Tiger Grand Marshal, “Send me the address—I’ll send it to you right away. We’ll need it tomorrow.”

The next day, the Lion-6 ammunition feeder arrived on time—and it even came with six rounds of conventional armor‑penetrating ammunition. Wang Chao sent Mark off to “procure” some complementary equipment, then began assembling the ship.

“Tiger Grand Marshal really knows what he’s doing—just like that, the Lion-6 is ours!” Wang Chao said excitedly.

“Except for the six positioning devices he installed on top—it’s a bit annoying,” Mark said, taking a sip of his drink.

“Ah! Well…” Wang Chao wasn’t sure what to say.

“Stop saying ‘ah!’ I’m sure I secretly removed them after receiving the goods and tucked them away over 600 kilometers from here,” Mark said with practiced ease. “Let’s just… I mean, let’s treat it as his way of making sure we don’t run off with the equipment.”

On the third day, the ship’s hull was fully assembled. Wang Chao invited Mark Roger to come over and test fire the weapon.

“Brother Dao, you’re awake! I’ve got the ship all set up for you—come take a look!”

“Wow! My goodness—You really are my hero! I’ll be there in five minutes!”

“You’re disgusting.”

Two hours later.

“The firepower is impressive—and the range is great too. Whether it’s 100km, 200km, or 350km, I can pretty much hit my targets. In theory, this is exactly the kind of railgun we’ve been dreaming of,” Mark said, his tone carrying a hint of something unspoken as he stepped out of the test ship.

“I see—every single component of the firing subsystem is cracking under the strain. I’m not blind,” Wang Chao said. “I’m starting to think that using our old method—buying prehistoric junk from the black market and cobbling together a Night Heron-class—isn’t going to cut it anymore.”

“Oh, and there’s one small issue: after every shot, the recoil is strong enough to shift our course by 3–5 degrees to the right. We’ll have to recalibrate the barrel—but it’s not a huge problem,” Mark continued.

“By the way, did you see the news? Yesterday, Peak Power released a new Night Heron-class gunship called the ‘Jungle Swordsman’ class—supposedly incredibly powerful, designed specifically to counteract your little buddy,” Wang Chao suddenly teased.

“It’s you, isn’t it! I bet all those bigwigs who got shafted by the gunships you were flipping to the Wanderers are feeling pretty embarrassed—so Peak Power decided to just slap out an official version instead…”

“Those fancy gadgets—they’re probably just going to end up in the hands of some ‘royal nobles’ with a penchant for collecting, ha ha ha ha ha…” Wang Chao said with a sardonic tone.

“By the way, we tested the ship too—should we go ahead and take it? I think it’s about time we gave Tiger Grand Marshal a response,” Mark Roger asked.

“Of course—we’ve already built the entire firing subsystem—how could we not take it? I even gave it a name—‘Riotous Destroyer’! I’ll reach out to Tiger Grand Marshal now.” With that, Wang Chao dialed Tiger Grand Marshal’s channel.

A few minutes later, the red tiger icon appeared again.

“So, gentlemen—does the Lion-6 pack enough punch?” Tiger Grand Marshal quipped.

The two men paused for a moment, then Wang Chao replied, “Tiger Grand Marshal really has quite the knack—he knew we were just two people.”

“Everyone knows the legendary ‘Night Blade’ and his good friend, Super Brother—the brilliant engineer of the Wanderers—there’s hardly anyone in the solar system who doesn’t know them!”

“This guy’s got quite a few tricks up his sleeve,” Mark said, a chill running down his spine as he turned to Wang Chao. “He probably knows our exact location.”

“No need to worry—I’m just a simple businessman,” Tiger Grand Marshal said calmly. “Go ahead—tell me, is the accuracy really that good? But is the hull a bit too fragile?”

“You’re spying on us!”

“That’s a complete misunderstanding, gentlemen—absolutely false! That’s just my best guess.”

“Cut the suspense—how much is this projectile launch system going to cost? We’ll take it—five sets, please.”

“Since we’re both straightforward folks, I’m relieved to hear that—my price is… free.”

“Free?!” Wang Chao and Mark stared wide-eyed, momentarily unsure what was going on.

“Of course, it’s not completely free—I just need ‘Night Blade’ to help me take care of a few troublesome characters. A small favor, right? Just a small favor.” Tiger Grand Marshal paused briefly. “In return, I’ll provide three sets of the projectile launch system—and three nearly brand‑new Peak Power SSM-45T standard Night Heron-class raid cruisers, free of charge.”

“Sure, we can do that—but I wonder who would dare to cross the Grand Marshal?” Mark said, mimicking Tiger Grand Marshal’s tone.

“It’s not some bigwig—it’s called the ‘Blood Scorpion.’ Just a few ships in the lunar orbit, scavenging scraps from the Wanderers.”

“The Blood Scorpion? Interesting…”

“Then I’ll take that as a yes? I’ve got the coordinates to their lair—actually, it’s just a shabby, abandoned mining platform that’s been repurposed into a junk heap. Help me blow it to pieces—and the treasure I mentioned earlier will belong to the two of you.”

With that, the other party sent over a holographic map: a marked point roughly 800 kilometers from the lunar orbit. Zooming in, you could see a simple outpost, with barely any defensive structures around it—three CIC Shogun-class raid cruisers, each in a state of partial disrepair, parked outside the spaceport.

“With this setup, it’s actually pretty straightforward,” Mark whispered to Wang Chao. “Three of our warships should be able to settle the fight with just one or two salvos—should only take about two minutes.”

“We’ve taken a look—your setup’s not so simple after all. There are warships on the other side, and there might even be ambushes waiting. How about giving us an extra gift?”

“Please go ahead.”

“And on the next batch of goodies—please don’t install any positioning devices, and I’d also like the Jungle Swordsman’s ship manual.”

“The Jungle Swordsman… you’ve got good taste! But that’s a rare, newly released piece—it’s a major undertaking! Still… if you can successfully complete the mission, the Jungle Swordsman’s ship manual will be yours—delivered with both hands.”

A week later, three nearly brand‑new Night Herons were delivered back to the original drop-off location. After a thorough inspection, Mark carefully hauled all the equipment back to the secret base.

Another week passed.

“My goodness—have to admit, you really do have something special,” Mark said excitedly. “This is exactly the ‘ship of my dreams’!”

“This is the Wanderer’s ‘officially modified assault gunship’ based on the SSM-45T—the SSM-45W Battler-class.”

The two stood in front of the three sleek black warships, chatting back and forth for hours—as if they were two young dreamers chasing their own visions.

That evening, Wang Chao dialed Tiger Grand Marshal’s channel once more.

“Grand Marshal, the ship’s ready—our fleet will set sail tomorrow.”

“Excellent—may our ‘Night Blade’ always prevail in battle…”

Before Tiger Grand Marshal could finish speaking, Mark took the communicator and said, “Your approach this time feels a bit… unrefined.”

“Oh? I’d love to hear more.” The screen remained calm and unhurried.

“You forgot to remove the positioners from those three Night Heron-class ships—did you forget? These three were given directly to us—no need to recover them, no need to bother installing positioners again. And besides…” Mark Roger paused, then added, “I picked up the Jungle Swordsman’s data by the roadside—it’s still pretty fresh—so no need to trouble Tiger Grand Marshal with that. Of course, I’ve got a personal grudge against the Blood Scorpion—so I’ll take care of his lair myself, no need to thank me.” With that, Mark ended the call.

On the other side of the screen,

“Boss, we…”

“Let’s do it that way.”

“Alright.”

Near Lunar Orbit – Blood Scorpion Headquarters – Two Weeks Later

The Blood Scorpion Gang was in the middle of a lavish feast when a junior member rushed up to Boss Carlo Blood Scorpion, breathless. “Boss! Boss! Our forward outpost just received a wide‑area broadcast—apparently, someone’s looking for you, claiming it’s important information!”

“Wide area? Who is it? Put them through.”

“Good evening, Boss Carlo—your ordered munitions have arrived. I delivered them to the address on your order—may I ask if you’re home?” a voice said.

Carlo glanced at his deputy, who shook his head and signaled his subordinate to trace the signal source. The subordinate nodded and immediately began working.

“Munitions? What kind of munitions? I haven’t ordered any munitions! Who sent you—and which company are you from?” Carlo asked calmly, buying his subordinate some time to lock down the caller’s identity.

“I don’t know what kind of munitions they are—I’m from Deep Dive Logistics. We’re required to keep the sender’s information strictly confidential—after all, that’s part of our basic professional ethics.”

Deep Dive Logistics is a logistics company exclusive to the interstellar dark web—most non‑compliant deliveries are handled by them.

As he spoke, the junior member brought over a terminal displaying three targets located 320 kilometers outside the base. Due to the outpost’s radar limitations, it couldn’t accurately detect the signal radius or the ships’ outlines.

Carlo smiled slyly, signaling his subordinates to prepare the warships—and to accept this shipment. He then opened the video feed.

“That’s right—I’ve taken a look—these really are my goods. Please hold on a moment—I’ll send someone to collect them right away.”

“Looks like Boss Carlo is home—great! Here’s your flagship‑grade high‑explosive shell,” the voice on the other end seemed to have shifted slightly.

“Flagship?”

“Time to say goodnight to the whole world, you idiot.”

Four seconds later, three high‑explosive shells struck the fuel depot and two docked warships, triggering a chain reaction of explosions. Chaos erupted across the base. Twenty-five seconds later, a second salvo came crashing in—and this time, the entire base fell silent, consumed by a violent blast.

“The buildup was a bit long—if it weren’t for that, I could’ve saved another minute or two,” Night Blade Mark Roger joked with his deputy.