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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create a starship component for future submissions and role-playing.
Image Source: [X]
Canon Link:
Primary Source:
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Visanj T’shkali
Affiliation: Closed-Market
Model: Talon Landing System
Modularity: Yes; can be fitted to any size or type of starship.
Production: Mass-Production
Material(s): Alusteel, various mechanical, hydraulic, and electronic components.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Variable geometry landing claws, equipped with special dedicated sensors, monomolecular slicers, and specialized suspension kits enable ships to land on most any surface. Everything from ice flows on Hoth to the side or underside of massive capital ships to uneven rocky ground is as accounted for as easily as a real landing pad.
- Micro-repulsors and collision avoidance software allows for gentle landings (almost) every time, and the deliberate grace of these landings/dockings and subsequent takeoffs is smooth and silent, provided the ship and crew have the time to make it so.
- Special collision avoidance and takeoff/landing software enables automated actions, making it a breeze to make subtle, ‘painless’ landings and takeoffs everytime, freeing the crew to concentrate on other actions.
- Allows starships to land on virtually any surface, including uneven terrain or smooth surfaces, even able to grip vertically or inverted onto the hulls of larger ships or space stations.
- Uses repulsors and collision avoidance software for smooth and silent landing/docking and takeoffs.
- Quiet takeoff and landing is slow, deliberate, and calculated, which all translates to mean that if it has to be done quickly it can’t be done subtly. A fast getaway take off or a hard insertion landing amid a chaotic battlefield isn’t going to be a quiet and gentle affair, and thus any element of stealth or surprise is lost.
- The combination of magnetics, monomolecular slicers, and variable geometry landing gear requires considerable technical know-how and attention to ensure they are maintained in proper working order, and if damaged or thrown out of calibration, their ability to work properly is almost certain to be compromised.
Ask any pilot worth her salt and she will tell you that there are three great truths about taking off and landing:
- Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
- Landing on or taking off from an uneven surface, docking with a ship in space, or lining up with one of those fancy docking ports is never easy, and it takes a lot of precision movements and concentration to make them happen.
- The time and focus needed to do it right – and not set it down like a drunk bantha – takes all of a pilot’s concentration and attention, which means at that moment, it’s the only thing on your mind.
Fairly simple truths, but their simplicity doesn’t negate the truthfulness. Visanj, being ever the student of history, always loved the stories of Han Solo’s exploits aboard the Millennium Falcon. Landing on the side of an Imperial Star Destroyer was always one of her favorites. As she watched an owl while hunting one day, she observed the animal’s talons, how they gripped the surface of limbs and icy ground. That’s when it hit her: Landing claws should be modeled after actual claws!
Specialized actuators and servos would allow the claws to adjust individually for angles, elevation, height, even as those factors varied from one to the next. Monomolecular slicers and optional magnetics would enable them to grip even the smoothest surfaces, while specialized dedicated sensors would provide acute information to shipboard computers where collision avoidance software and automated landing and takeoff programming would ensure a smooth, gentle, silent action.
Of course, there were – like everything – limitations. The complex landing gear had to be regularly maintained and calibrated to ensure proper functionality. Damage to the sensors or malfunctions in the actuators or servos would mean less sensitivity and adjustability, which could lead to potentially disastrous ends. Also, just like that owl, if the crew got spooked and had to make a hasty lift-off, or else if it was rushing in to a chaotic battlefield or similar situation, any kind of subtlety went right out the viewport. When haste was required, pilots would have to do it the old-fashioned way, as the automated system would be too slow. The finesse and grace it used wasn’t meant for quick, fast, and dirty.
One final benefit of the Talon System was that it enabled auto-piloting to worry about the take-off and landing/docking duties, giving pilots and crews the ability to prep for disembarking or plot hyperdrive programming or the like. The Talon System took the heavy lifting out of landing and taking off, and ensured the kinds of safe, smooth touchdowns and lift-offs that you can always walk away from.
