Umgah Drone
Slow ships that are slow to turn fall easily to the Umgah. Unfortunately,
these slow ships are usually able to pack a whollop, so the Drone must be
careful to approach from their good (i.e., away from the front) sides. Any
ship is vulnerable to the Drone's attack if their pilots are inept, and the
slender Drone easily sidesteps missiles too dangerous to clean up with their
cone. Smart weapons of all kinds are eradicated by the Umgah - DOGIs that
avoid the front of the cone still blunder into the "safe" corners to be
incinerated. Fighters and Marines stream right into it. And even the Chmmr
are hard pressed to flawlessly defeat the Drone - it's weapon is useless
against the cone, it's special weapon merely draws the Drone close enough
to damage the Avatar, and leaving the Drone away from the main ship allows
easy predation upon the hapless Zap Satellites.
The only quirk dealing directly with the special weapon involves thrusting.
If the Umgah are thrusting while engaging the backwards propulsion systems,
they jerk backwards slowly. This, of course, ruins any surprise they might
have had and makes them a jittery but simply target. Secondly, the free-to-
fire cone has a cost, one that might be too severe. If the Umgah wish to
regenerate fuel, they have to discontinue use of their antimatter cone or
their backwards propulsion for about ten seconds, when all of their 42 fuel
returns in one pop. If, during the recharging time, the pilot decides to
engage either one, the time is reset and must begin at zero. Third and
foremost, the cone does not make the Umgah invincible. Weapons fired while
the firing device (i.e., gunnel or turret) is within the antimatter cone
still reach their target unscathed. While this may be of little comfort to
ships with low crew, this can be a lifesaving device for lasering ships,
which have no chance to hit the Umgah unless their nose is buried in the
cone. As a final aside, unskilled or clumsy Umgah pilots will waste their
fuel ramming a ship with their butt. This has the amusing but futile effect
of sending their intended target off in the direction the Drone was zipping
along in, while the Drone lopes away, trying to amass more fuel for it's
next attack.
Craft: Umgah Drone Cruiser
Type: Light cruiser
Scale: Capital (due to power output)
Length: 40 meters
Skill: Capital Ship Piloting: Umgah Drone
Crew: 8, gunners: 2, skeleton: 2/+15
Cargo Capacity: 100 metric tons
Consumables: 2 months
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x2
Nav Computer: Yes
Maneuverability: 1D+2
Space: 4 (8 going in reverse using emergency retro-rocket)
Atmosphere: 295; 850 kmh
Hull: 3D+2
Sensors:
Passive: 10/0D
Scan: 40/1D
Search: 50/2D
Focus: 2/3D
Weapons:
Particle Field Generator
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: 2
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 5D
Space Range: 1/6/14
Atmosphere Range: 2/12/28 m
Damage: 10D/6D/3D
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