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Small and Medium (S/M) ships, which include the Skunk, can fly at regular speeds or use their boost engines to temporarily speed up. The Skunk's boosted speed is faster than other ships but it depletes shields as a tradeoff . In general, S/M ships will tend to take regular highways (see below) between zones but at other times they may boost, particularly in short bursts while attacking.
Large and Extra Large (L/XL) ships (AKA capital ships) use free-flight within zones and boosters between zones; they . They are unable to use any highways. Capital ship boost speeds are 24-25-times their started regular speed. For example, a Taranis without engine damage has a top speed of 80 m/s, and boosts at 2000 m/s. An exception are Teladi Capital ships, which boost at 16.2-times their regular speed (e.g. 95 m/s and 1435 m/s, respectively, for a Phoenix Marauder).
As ships increase in size between S to XL their speeds and turning rates tend to decrease, so within a given zone small ships tend to reach their destinations quickest. However if a ship needs to travel between a few widely-spaced zones, capital ships tend to be quicker because although they are slower than S/M ships their boost can save time as it can operate continuously, and the ship flies directly to its destination rather than sticking to the highway route.
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