Skiff

Overview

After the discovery of relativity by German-American physicist Albert Einstein in the early 20th century, Terran scientists were disappointed to discover that conventional physics cannot allow normal objects to travel faster than light in TrueSpace. Even after the discoveries of FTL (faster-than-light) technology and HyperSpace travel (thanks to the aid of the Chenjesu), they again encountered a second stumbling block on the limit of power produced by an engine. "If only we could control inertia...," the scientists complained again and again. Enter the Arilou Lalee'lay Skiff.

Utilized mainly as a means of conveyance in TrueSpace and piloted by the pacifistic Arilou, the blue saucer-shaped Skiff is designed mainly for exploratory missions and boasts minimal defensive weaponry, but it has one envious quality: an inertialess drive.

Speed and control

When not travelling at FTL speeds, the Skiff flies, or rather glides, through TrueSpace at extremely fast speeds (though not as quickly as the nimble Spathi Eluder, nee Discriminator, or Pkunk Fury). Its inertialess drive gives it the smallest turning radius in the galaxy -- 0 m! -- and of course the turning rate itself can't be beat. No inertia also means instant acceleration (and deceleration), as well as no gravitational effects from planetary objects or anything else for that matter! Surprisingly enough, the helm contains no physical controls at all; the captain telepathically controls the ship, thus requiring only a skeleton crew to operate it!

Armament

Primary

The Skiff's main and only true weapon is a ventral 360-degree short range auto-aiming laser. Meant to simply deter prowlers and pirates from seiging the ship and to surgically cease the roamings of stray space debris, it can be used as an offensive weapon with limited results. Damage is minimal and technique and timing are crucial. Two of the major drawbacks of the targeting system are that:

1. it only tracks the ion trails from warp-drive capable exhaust systems thereby neglecting smaller craft such as Ur-Quan slave ships or Orz marines.
2. it has a discrete firing pattern, limiting the direction in which it can fire.

Particular skillful captains are able to minimize the shortcomings of the limited weaponry with carefully-timed firing and cunning tactics.

Secondary

Utilizing the power of the inertialess drive, the secondary armament is a short-range HyperSpace shunt transportation device allowing instantaneous teleportation. While extremely useful in making a quick exit from a heated sortie, the range is limited once again to a single yet significant factor. Range is determined using fourth-dimensional QuasiSpatial movement, which is heavily distorted by FTL sub-spatial harmonics, particularly near starship warp drives. Thus Skiffs hardly have the ability to attempt a long-range teleportation when even a FTL-capable ship as small as a Umgah Drone is nearby. Additionally, the shunt is nearly impossible to guide due to the relatively minute range (on a galactic scale) that the Skiff is able to teleport when such an object is close by. Because of this, undesirable results often occur and, in the small chance of materializing inside of a planetary object or even another ship, can prove to be fatal. However, such catastrophic occurences are still extremely rare.

Layout and design

Due to the telepathic nature of the Arilou, few conventional devices other than a hull that can withstand TrueSpace and a weak laser are needed to produce the shell of the Skiff. However, the building and implementation of the inertialess drive and the HyperSpace shunt teleporter are beyond current human techonology, not to mention finding a superlative telepathic crew of midgets who can bond to the ship's internal systems. Still, the hull of the Skiff is as simple as it gets: tall enough for a 1.5-meter tall person; and perfectly round for uniform psionic harmonics; and blue -- very, very blue... oh, and headlights. The guts... well, that's a little bit tougher to explain.

Miscellaneous

Tactics

Due to the difficulty in winning a dogfight through brute-force, Arilou captains have been forced to take more clever methods of vanquishing foes. The following are three of the most commonly used methods.

• Gun and run

Agility and speed are the two strongest attributes of the Skiff. Why not exploit them? Heading directly into enemy fire can be advatangeous given the opponent's barrage is slow enough and the Skiff's captain is nimble enough. Once close enough to the enemy ship, even the directionally-challenged auto-aiming laser can do its job without missing. Leave enough fuel for a quick jump, and >poof< the Skiff is out of harm's way!

• Planetary ambush

With no inertia, the Skiff is the only vehicle entirely immune to gravitational effects from nearby planets even when it's sitting right next to it! Letting the bloodlust overcome an adversary's judgment, the perceptive Arilou captain can capitalize on such egregious foolhardiness. Sitting on the far side of the planet as the enemy ship approaces, the opponent cannot both aim accurately and guide his ship to safe course (with some exceptions, eg. the Supox). Seizing such opportunities nets maximal damage to the opponent as he slingshots past the ambushing Skiff without ever having the ability to fire a single shot at the clever Arilou!

• Cyborg shimmy

With the reactions of a well-timed computer, an expert Skiff captain can sometimes approach an enemy vessel in a direction that it can't even fire! This feint requires split-second timing at the helm that no human could possibly match! It's even more devastating for the ship captain who can't quite catch his Arilou Lalee'lay opponent off-guard!