The energy required to accelerate Tempest's 1200 kilotonne mass at 30g for 60 seconds is 51.8 terajoules -- roughly the yield of a tactical nuclear weapon. The notion that the additional air filtration costs of a larger-volume crew section would have a meaningful impact on the combat performance or efficiency of such a system just doesn't make any kind of practical sense.novius wrote:It's not just volume to consider. While the raise in mass for the larger hull and larger surface to be armored may be not that much to consider, there are definitely other considerations, like energy consumption for life support (heat, air filtration and so on), and, and here comes the most important consideration, a larger ship definitely has a larger scanner footprint. Be it any kind of electromagnetic emissions or absorption, gravimetric or maybe other tech we wouldn't even dream of. And, when it comes to blows, a larger ship offers more target area.... though on the other hand a direct hit might be easier to shake off because the chances are lower for a vital component to be hit.
As for the idea of a larger scanner footprint, I'll repeat: the size of a Loroi ship has very little to do with the volume of its crew space, which is a minor portion of the overall structure. A version of the Tempest with a crew space one quarter the volume would not be any smaller, just a little bit skinnier in the middle. The largest portions of the vessel (the prongs and engine nacelles and struts) are almost completely uninhabited. (Not that a ship with a terajoule-per-second drive plume is a stealthy creature to begin with...)