Urename Skiff

The Urename Skiff is a platform built vehicle that serves as both a form of transportation but also a lightly armed scout craft. It was invented in EE001-v and entered service that very same year.

The name, Urename Skiff, is a bit of a misleading name as the vehicle is in reality a 'pod', a self-contained vehicle that can be used both in and out of an atmosphere and provides it's single occupant with enough air to last a few hours.

The skiff has two modes of usage, the first is it's platform mod while the second is a pilots mode. The modes differ from one another greatly, in that one is piloted while riding 'on top' while the other is piloted strictly from the internal cockpit.

It is equipped with a single, non-lethal weapon but can be modified.

The Urename is mainly used as the pilots vehicle inside of a starfighter, and also as the escape of said fighter so that the aviator could live to possibly fight another day.

The pods two modes, Skiff and Pilot, change the overall appearance of the vehicle. When in skiff mode, the top of the vehicle is flat and capable of being stood upon, small gravitic tethers in the thin armor helps to keep the soldier firmly planted on the ship so that they don't fall off during any maneuvers.

On the other hand, the pilot mode changes the top of the skiffs flat surface into an oval shape resembling a cockpit. However, this cockpit doesn't have any windows, in keeping with Neshaten engineering philosophy, the area where the windows would normally be is armored up to protect the occupant from small arms fire. This particular armor is the same kind of armor that makes up the armor that the soldier stands on.

The following are the features that this vehicle has:

• Light Recon Ability
• Transformation
  • Can transform into a a skiff or a pod
• Has enough onboard oxygen for three hours
• Is equipped with a single, modular weapon system
• Has cargo-capacity suited only for a small number of items
• Is capable of space and air-flight, along with going over water and also 'under' water.
• Moderately armored shell.

The Urename Skiff came about from the military's request for an armed pod that their pilots could ride in and that their soldiers could use to more easily more about the battlefield. The pods two transformation abilities was originally not part of the plans, originally the Urename was supposed to be just a pod that contained an aviator.

This concept, however, changed during it's development stage when designers discovered a means to allow the Urename to also serve as a skiff that soldeirs could not only ride on but also pilot in the event they needed to get out of combat.

This new concept meant that the original skiff had to be changed slightly, but the changes in its design weren't very big, this was thanks to its already somewhat flat top that could be converted into a standing platform. In order to facilitate the ability for a soldier or aviator to get 'into' the cockpit, the flat top was converted and designed so that it could open up to reveal the cockpit that sat right beneath it.

How THIS was accomplished is considered a secret amongst the developers, but essentially the area above the cockpit is thin armor plating that can 'roll back' into the shell of the skiff, it's strong enough to hold a person but isn't anywhere near as strong as the rest of the skiffs shell. It's the thinnest form of metal that the developers were able to create, yet still able to stand on.

When this hurdle was overcome, another had been reached. This new hurdle was one that involved a weapon, originally the skiff wasn't supposed to have a weapon on it because it would just take away from power that could go to it's engines and life support systems. This was a hurdle that the designers could not fully overcome though, even after a full season of testing, thus one of the ways to fix this was to put in a system lock that prevented the aviator from shunting power from the ships available reserves, which were coded to only go to the ships engines to give it a boost of speed.

Ideally, the vehicle was designed for fast speed and maneuverability, it wasn't designed to hold out long in a firefight. Because of this, outside of being used as a pilot's pod within a star fighter it's only real use is as a recon vehicle for soldiers.

There is currently research underway to incorporate this skiff into the inner working of ground based combat vehicles such as tanks.

Flight mode outside of a fighter, cockpit is hidden by overlaid armor.
Skiff with cockpit deployed, overhead armor becomes the armored cockpit

The Urename resembles a flat oval that is elongated from front to rear. The Urename was 'not' designed to look pretty, it was designed for functionality. It has six gravity engines that are retracted against the hull when the skiff is used as a pilots pod for starfighters, and extended outward when separated from said fighters and used separately.

• Organization: Kingdom of Neshaten
• Type: Recon and Survival Pod
• Nomenclature: Ne-K1-A1
• Class: Pod
• Designer: Ure'name Justa'me
• Manufacturer: Shukara Armaments and Manufacturing
• Production: Shukara Armaments and Manufacturing
  • Price: Not applicable, available only to military (currently)

Crew: 1 Maximum Capacity: 1 Passenger Capacity: In skiff mode, it can carry two additional people

Width: Depends on pod version, see below Height: Depends on pod version, see below

Ground speed: 25 Mph Air speed: 89 Mph

Range: with its onboard generator, range is nearly unlimited so long as the generator is kept cool Lifespan: has enough onboard oxygen for up to three hours of air, onboard scrubbers can increase this time

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for an explanation of the damage system.

• Body: 10 SP (Armor Scale)

The following is the skiffs interior:

The cockpit of the Urename is rather spacious for a vehicle such as this, it has a lot of leg-room but is because the cockpit utilizes the IDT system and not any physical controls, this is what has allowed it to become spacious. The areas of the cockpit that would normally be taken up by systems are inside taken up by small storage bins that can be used to store food, medical supplies, and even firearms or other equipment. There are also restraints located within the cockpit seat that come down over the soldiers shoulders to keep them from being thrown about the cockpit during flight.

Only one item in the cockpit is 'not' part of the IDT system, and this is the ejection handle that is used to eject the pod from attached starfighters.

Getting into the cockpit requires the soldier to tap the armor that covers it three times, this is because the armor has built-in pressure plates, these plates are specifically located so that a soldier doesn't accidently open the armor. The armor 'slides' off to the sides, once the pilot mode is engaged, the armor reasserts itself as part of the armored cockpit dome.

Toward the rear of the skiff is a small storage compartment, it's larger than those found in the cockpit and thus is capable of storing more equipment. It's close proximity to the generator, however, results in it having a removable back plate to access said generator to perform repairs or to replace.

List below as it's onboard systems.

The skiff utilzes both internal and external control systems for operations, while the internal controls are compatible with both the Shukare and My'leke, the external controls are not.

• Skiff External Controls
• Skiff Internal Controls

The skiff is made out of reinforced titanium that serves as it's main structure.

The first armor layer for the skiff is made out of Crynatorium, which affords it protection from light weapons to medium weapons for a short duration of time.

The second form of armor that serves to armor the cockpit but also is part of the standing area for the craft, is known as Te'rename, a form of flex armor. This armor splits in two on command to reveal the underside cockpit.

The pod is equipped with the following life support functions.

There are four onboard oxygen tanks that provide the pod with three hours of oxygen, these tanks can be hooked up to the soldiers body suit.

Air Scrubbers help to filter out pollution and also to clean the air, they work in similar fashion to air recyclers which also do the same thing.

Although quite small, the Urename actually does have a small quantum computer core that monitors all of the skiffs functions, making sure everything operates within acceptable values.

Its propulsion comes from six small gravitic engines, four located on the skiffs underside and two located on the rear. These engines provide it with ample thrust to get away from an exploding fighter, or for getting through a combat zone.

The skiff is equipped with the same kind of sensors commonly found on starfighters, along with targeting systems for its onboard weapons.

• Neshaten Scanner Array Suite

The Urename can be equipped either with lethal, or non-lethal weapons. It's default weapon is an EMP cannon, although it can be equipped with a pulse laser cannon or a grenade launcher.

(How much cargo can it carry, or if it comes with cargo upon purchase)

(What comes standard on this vehicle? IE, Does it have lockers? Fire Extinguisher 🧯s? First Aid Kits? What?)