Shuriken Landing Craft

During the time before the Battle of Endor, some of Sienar Fleet Systems'
top engineers began to develop a new type of dropship that was quick and
able to unload troops into battle in seconds. Sienar executives found the
project too expensive and unnecessary after the Emperor's death, however,
and ordered the cancellation of it. The design was considered too good of a
concept by the head engineers of the project, however, and they left Sienar
Fleet Systems to start their own company, Crimtan Technologies. It was
fitting that the new dropship was going to be the company's first manufactured
ship, which they intended to sell throughout the galaxy to all military
forces in order to gain popularity and investors. The finished project
became known as the Shuriken landing craft, because of its four-pointed
shuriken shape.

Upon reaching orbit, a command ship will normally send Shurikens towards
the planet in groups of four or five at a time. The craft will then shoot
into the atmosphere with the "four points" of the hull folded slightly up
to decrease wind resistance. Some variants of the Shuriken have compartments
which will drop a swarm of grenades onto the surface to wipe out any enemy
forces attempting to fire surface to air weapons at the craft. Upon landing,
the points will move down at a slight angle as landing gear. The tip of each
point will then open up and detract ramps to the ground. The troops are
assigned to disembark at a certain ramp beforehand so that 1/4 of the troops
exit from each ramp to increase troop deployment considerably. The four
heavy laser turrets are each manned by a single gunner, who can provide
cover fire to the troops by firing on swarms of approaching enemy soldiers,
vehicles, or even starfighters due to its wide range of turning. To prevent any enemy soldiers from attempting to sabotage the engines
on the bottom of the craft, each Shuriken is designed with a repeating
blaster turret manned by a gunner above it at a small terminal. At the
center of the craft where the points converge is the command pod, which has
a domed ceiling. This portion of the ship is the most heavy shielded, and
can jettison from the rest of the craft if it sustains heavy damage. Also
on board the ship are four molecularly-reinforced holding cells for any key
prisoners acquired. As for the designers' goal for quick deployment of
troops into the battle, Shurikens have been timed landing and deploying all
troops in such incredibly short times as 18 seconds. It is for this reason
that many factions have began to buy these jet black dropships in great
numbers for quick planetary assaults.

Craft: Crimtan Technologies NJA-168x Shuriken-class Landing Craft
Class: Space Transport
Size: Medium (52 m long)
Hyperdrive: x1
Passangers: 80 (troops),4 (prisoners)
Cargo Capacity: 22 tons
Consumables: 3 weeks
Cost: 150,000 credits
Maximum Speed In Space: Attack (8 squares/action)
Atmospheric Speed: 420 km/h (8 squares/action)
Crew: 6 (Skilled +4)
Initiative: +4 (+4 crew)
Maneuver: +4 (+4 crew)
Defense: 20 (+10 armor)
Shield Points: 90 (DR 10)
Hull Points: 150 (DR 10)
Weapons:
  4 Heavy Laser Cannons
    Fire Arc: Turret(one on the base of each "point")
    Attack Bonus: +6 (+2 crew, +4 fire control)
    Damage: 6d10x2
    Range Modifiers: PB/S +0, M/L n/a
  Repeating Blaster
    Fire Arc: Turret (beneath command pod)
    Attack Bonus: +6 (+2 crew, +4 fire control)
    Damage: 4d8
    Range Modifiers: 25 m