Storm Petrel

After the Storm Petrel is taken at the end of the prelude can you ever get it back?

In standard EoC, no. It is a massively over powered ship in the hands of a human pilot with the ability to load it out at will, and for game balance it is removed as soon as you have a chance to know what you are doing. Plus, learning to fight in the tug will make you a better pilot.

However, if you use the FutureTrader mod, you can go buy yourself a storm petrel from any miliatary installation. Its expensive though, but doable. Some time in the tug is, unfortunately, still a nessecity.

In addition, the free-roam mod places the Storm Petrel back in your inventory.

<font size="1"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font color="black">"Never before in the history of the world had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together. This was no disciplined march; it was a stampede-- without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned, driving headlong. It was the beginning of the rout of Civilisation... of the massacre of Mankind."
--H. G. Wells The War Of The Worlds</font id="black"></font id="Book Antiqua"> </font id="size1">

The Petrel is nimble and for its size well-armed, but it is too small for a capsule drive, so you'll have to be content terrorizing whatever system your base happens to be in.

Flying it is great fun!