To boldly alchemize what no one alchemized before
An Utai Pilot Seat
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide an alchemical pilot seat
- Image Source: Martin-Baker Mk18
- Canon Link: N/A
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Ejector seat
- Manufacturer: Utai Magic Circle (alchemy), various manufacturers (base seats)
- Model: Utai Pilot Seat
- Weight: 200 kg
- Affiliation: Closed-Market
- Modularity: Yes: can mount a datapad on a kneeboard socket
- Production: Semi-Unique
- Material: Imbued leather, imbued durasteel, cushioning material, shield generator components, standard electronic components
- Lightsaber-resistant
- Enhances several Force-powers: precognition and Instinctive Astrogation
- Ejectability
- Inertial compensator
- Emergency shield generator
- Emergency repulsorlift generator
- Safety harness
- Emergency rations (oxygen, food, medpac) for three days
- Lightsaber-resistant
- Enhances several Force-powers to the pilot seated on it: precognition and Instinctive Astrogation (NFU pilots will find themselves as if they were able to use these two powers at padawan level)
- Ejectability: if the craft around the seat has been hit to the point the cockpit's survival is endangered, an emergency shield generator activates to ensure the pilot's survival
- Survivability upon ejection
- Presence: Force presence means that unless you somehow install a Force-diffuser somewhere close to the seat, Force-users can detect a Force-presence centered on the seat. However, if used by a NFU, it will make the pilot's Force presence akin to a neutral Apprentice.
- Slow and heavy: While a factor only for ejection, an Utai Pilot Seat will be significantly heavier than normal ejector seats due to the sheer amount of technology embedded onto the seat: it weighs nearly 200 kg without the pilot on it. Also, because the seat is heavier, the ejection speed will be lower than on a normal ejector seat, thus increasing the risk of being stuck in the craft from which one wishes to eject
- Force-nullifiers: Voidstones and ysalamiri will suppress the Force-abilities beyond lightsaber resistance
- Snubfighters: a Utai Pilot Seat installed on a specific interceptor fighter or bomber model cannot be installed on a different attack craft (interceptor, fighter, bomber) model; however it may be reused on another craft of the same model, a light freighter or on a capital ship - can become a problem if an Utai Pilot Seat falls into enemy hands
- EMPs: if the seat is hit by EMPs or ion weapons, the internal systems will be disabled and it then becomes an ordinary seat
The Utai Pilot Seat is the very first starship component that Janick was finally able to alchemize, even though the crafting methods used were more akin to Force-imbuement than it is to Sith alchemy, while still being referred to as alchemy in advertizing materials. Having found in her own combat sorties that, by far, the two most useful Force-powers to pilots in flight were Instinctive Astrogation and precognition, she decided to Force-imbue the leather, as well as the outer frame of the assembly, much as she would a suit of armor, with the result that the seat assembly is lightsaber-resistant. While by themselves, they may not be the most significant properties of the seat, it's when the mount ship is boarded (light freighters and larger) or when the seat is ejected that these abilities come onto their own: it helps ensure the survival of the seat as well as of its pilot. As with all Force-imbued items, they share common weaknesses: Force-nullifiers will neutralize the Force-abilities beyond lightsaber resistance. And also that the lightsaber resistance comes at a cost of increased weight as well.
No discussion of ejector seats is complete without the ejection mechanism: the pilot pulls a yellow handle situated in front of the seat, which triggers a system that allows a host of systems to activate: an emergency shield generator, generating a bubble which will cause the pilot to be enveloped inside the shield for protection, back-seat ion engines, an emergency inertial compensator, which allows the pilot to safely withstand the high G-forces involved when ejecting, and an emergency repulsorlift generator, which allows it to smooth out the landing of an ejected Utai Pilot Seat. Also, with the understanding that the ejection mechanism is intended for pilots to stay alive even after their craft is destroyed, is a cache of emergency rations underneath the cushioning, allowing a normal human-sized pilot to survive for three days.
Finally, due to the high level of specificity in the design of snubfighter (interceptor, fighter, bomber) pilot seats, which can cause compatibility problems when changing seats from a snubfighter model to another, one has to pay a close attention when changing the original seat on a snubfighter for a Utai Pilot Seat; in that case, the base seat must be known beforehand before one can make an order for alchemizing a pilot seat destined for a particular model. Also, when one wishes to install an ejected Utai Pilot Seat on another craft, one also wishes to check against the original craft prior to re-using it on another craft: sometimes what's intended for one craft may not work so well on another, especially between snubfighter models. Even so, all Utai Pilot Seats come standard with a kneeboard socket, enabling users to their favorite datapads for consultation of flight plans, local approach procedures, cargo manifests, crew manifests as well as other travel documentation that are the common spacers' fare.
