Approved Starship Jackal Pods

[John Locke]

Spoiler

• Intent: To create a stealthy boarding pod for production and use by Locke and Key and allies.
• Image Source: Star Citizen
• Canon Link: N/a
• Primary Source: Boarding Pod

• Manufacturer: Locke and Key Mechanics
• Affiliation: Faction Name(s) Order of Silver Jedi, Confederacy of Independent Systems Closed-Market (Any character can use this if they have explicit permission through, for example, a marketplace purchase)
• Model: (Example: TIE (Twin Ion Engine). For submissions where a model wouldn’t be appropriate, such as a custom walking stick, put ‘N/A’ for ‘Not Applicable’.)
• 
  Production: Minor (Large groups of characters. (IE: Multiple factions, companies, or groups.)
  
• Material: Phrik, Reflec coating

• Classification: Boarding Pod
• Length: 16 meters
• Width: 4 meters
• Height: 4 meters
• Armament: Very Low
  ​Molecular Cutter

[*]Defenses: Moderate
[*]Squadron Count: Low: 8
[*]Maneuverability Rating: Moderate
[*]Speed Rating: High
[*]Hyperdrive Class: None

Life support
Droid brain (capable of piloting and providing communications support)

Hermes
Sensor Jammer
Field Disruptor
Ghostwave
TibannaX Engines
Complement of Buzz Droids

• Hunting Ghosts: The Reflec coating combined with the sensor jammer makes the Jackal's ghosts on sensors, while they can be picked up it is very very hard to lock in on them allowing them to slip through the battlefield unnoticed.
• What Shield: The Field Disruptor allows the Jackal pods to pass through ships shields, an important ability for a boarding pod to be able to deliver it's troops to their target.
• Can't hear me: The Pods contain a Ghostwave encryption system, capable of disguising their communications by hiding withing other battlefield chatter. This allows the Jackals to communicate without being spotted, but also act as communication hubs allowing the troops they deploy to communicate with the rest of their fleet without being easily intercepted.
• Cut through you: The Pod comes equipped with a molecular cutter based off the Molecular Furnace technology, allowing it to bore a hole in the sides of it's target to allow it's troops onboard. It is important to note that the cutter has a smaller diameter than the pod, preventing it from cutting too far through the hull, the pods were designed to board, not destroy ships.
• Buzz Buzz: The Pods come with a complement of buzz droids that can either be deployed in space to help it get to it's target, or can be deployed once they reach a ship to help neutralise it.

• I see you: While the pods may be sensor ghosts, there is nothing that protects them if they're physically spotted by their targets.
• Shieldless: Due to the presence of the Field Disruptor the Pods lack shields of their own, depending on stealth, their speed and manoeuvrability and their Phrik armour to protect them.
• Weaponless: The Pods come with no weapons built into their chassis, if targeted all they can do is turn and run.
• Hyperdrive, don't make me laugh: The Pods are boarding craft and nothing else, if stranded without a mothership to pick them up, they can't hope to escape and despite their stealth will be hunter down eventually.

If there was one truth of a naval battle, actually being able to capture an enemy ship was rarely done by the capital ships, they were often too closely matched, it was too easy for an enemy to retreat when the going got tough. No, when it came to capturing a ship, the best way to do it was with boots on the ground, landing Commandos, Marines or other elite forces on the ship to seize them before they could escape. Of course, the trick was to actually get those boots on the ground in the first place. The Jackal boarding pods were Locke and Key Mechanic's attempt to provide a means of this access.

The engineers started with the pod itself, making it as stealthy as they possibly could. They took the Phrik frame, coating in it Reflec before installing a sensor jammer to create the most stealthy pod they could, a true ghost on the battlefield, while sensors might sense something was there, actually tracking down the pods would be far more difficult. Tracking them down was only made more difficult thanks to the Tibanna-X burning engines. Getting across a battlefield was only the first step though, it gave them the ability to sneak up on the target, they actually had to be able to get troops on board though. The first step was to get through the shields, accomplished through the use of an individual field disruptor, and then onto the ship itself. To make sure this could be accomplished the engineers at Locke and Key bastardised the technology of a molecular furnace, making a cutter that could cut through almost anything as long as it could touch it.

The result was a craft with a singular purpose, delivering a full squad of troops to a target vessel or space station as safely and quickly as possible. One there it could use it's communications ability to continue to connect the team with the rest of their fleet.

 

[Gir Quee]

Approved.