*Leeching
damage is based on the victim ship type.
The Leech is the
most sophisticated drone in the Somtaaw fleet, and is
designed to get in and heavily damage enemy ships in
situations where a conventional attack craft would be
destroyed in seconds. Able to evade all conventional
sensors, the Leech can come right up to an enemy vessel and
clamp on. The drone is unarmed except for a payload of
molecular acid, which it uses to bore through enemy hulls so
that it can access the plasma-drive conduits. Once bonded to
the enemy ship, the Leech uses the ship's own drive plasma
to melt through the hull, damaging it slowly. Meanwhile, the
Leech's AI infiltrates the enemy ship's systems and relays
false messages, silencing damage alarms and repair routines;
in general, the crew of an enemy vessel doesn't realize
anything is wrong until it is too late. The Leech carries a
resource pod as well, so that it can actually absorb the
mass of the enemy vessel instead of simply venting it into
space. This mass can be returned as raw materials to the
Command ship, if required.
In order to
stay in contact with the Command ship but avoid having its
transmissions picked up by enemy ships, the Leech uses a
phased telemetry system that actually shunts part of the
signal through hyperspace. It is rumored that Taiidani
scientists are already working on a system that would detect
these signals, but this would require a massive upgrading to
advanced sensors.
Work is
currently underway to build a micro-class ship, colorfully
named Leeches. Based on the micro-drive and expert systems
used in Drone Frigate drones, each Leech will carry onboard
geological sampling arrays. Depending on how it's set, this
specialized sensor package can then look for the sensor
signatures of almost anything, including other ships.
Development
has slowed recently as prototypes are easily lost during
test flights due to the fact that they are all but invisible
to standard fleet sensors. Once the bugs have been worked
out, these tiny ships can be fitted with all manner of
equipment and tools. It's unlikely they'll be useful for
large scale harvesting, but their use in core sampling may
prove important.
|
Cataclysm Statistics
