The Snake Eye

Designed to look exactly like a stock Action VI from the outside, the Snake Eye houses many surprises for any unwary attacker because it is far from stock. While stock Action VI's are unarmed, the Snake Eye is bristling with concealed weaponry, everything from quad laser cannons to a concussion missile launcher - even a half dozen Y-Wing fighters! Plus is has several interior modifications and upgrades.

The Snake Eye started life as a custom order on the Corellian Engineering Corporation's list. However, it had some key modifications. A specifically requested change, one that was not usually asked for was a power core change - the stock Action VI core simply would not do. A Mason Branger 7085 ionization reactor and regulator was asked for - the same reactor used in Corellian Corvettes. The engineers vehemently refused to install a reactor core for which the ship was not designed. Even after several hours of negotiating they still refused. So that item was scratched off the list. The second modification performed at the CEC yards was the addition of a small hangar. The modification called for a hangar capable of housing eight starfighter-sized craft to be installed amid-ships, directly between the fore and aft cargo holds. Total construction time took six days.

After taking delivery, the crew of the Snake Eye flew it to an undisclosed shadowport where further modifications were performed. The reactor that CEC refused to install was bought and installed with minimal problems. Eight Corellian Engineering Corporation AG-2G Quad Laser Cannons were added and concealed. Concealment was achieved by mounting the weapon and the operator's pod on a moveable track and placing the whole assembly inside a small housing built into the side of the hull. A retracting hatch covers the housing, retracting when the weapon deploys. Visually detecting the presence of a concealed weapon emplacement from the exterior of the ship is near impossible, as the hatch blends into the hull of the ship. A close-up inspection is the only way to visually detect the presence of a hatch from the outside. When the weapon deploys, the assembly moves along its track and sticks out slightly past the hull. This gives the weapon and the gunner a clear field of fire in all directions. Eight such concealed emplacements were built in, two in the fore end of the ship, two aft, two port and two starboard. A turret-mounted concussion missile launcher was concealed in aft end of the ship in the same manner.

The magnetic air lock in the hangar bay installed at CEC shipyards was a very visible sign that the Snake Eye was far from stock. This had to change. A hull section from another Action VI was found and installed over the air lock. The new "door" opens down and outwards on several large hinges welded to its bottom. It opens 90 degrees, ending up flat and level with the floor of the hangar. This way it doubles as a short landing pad. Great care was taken to once again make the door blend with the rest of the hull, concealing the magnetic air lock and hangar behind it. The door was concealed so effectively that anyone looking from the outside will not notice anything out of the ordinary.

Additional armor plating was added to the hull in several key areas: around the fore, aft and middle cargo holds, around the engines and power core, and around the bridge. Then came the internal modifications.

The stock sensor array was yanked out and replaced by a Kuat Drive Yards Prove 1050 array, roughly tripling the Snake Eye's sensor range and power. A MicroThrust OrC-19 Com-Scan Integrator console was installed to sift through and assist the sensor operator with the increased amount of readings from the new sensor array. A small garage was installed just aft of the hangar bay, capable of holding six speeder-sized vehicles. The entire inside of the ship was sealed and pressurized, allowing crew members to move freely between areas. The majority of the front cargo hold was turned into crew spaces and living quarters, and a small medical facility was added.

Then the engineers went to work in the aft section of the ship. They upgraded the hyperdrive to a class 1 rating and added a backup class 10 hyperdrive. Satisfied with the hyperdrive speeds, they got to work improving the sub-light speeds. They installed additional capacitors, removed some resistors and routed more power directly into the engines - effectively tripling it's sub-light speed. Next they toyed with the engines' transponder codes - a very illegal thing to do. They added four additional transponder codes, all of them fakes, for concealing the true identity of the Snake Eye when travelling to other systems. Satisfied with their work, the engineers next went to improve the Snake Eye's shields. Since adding additional shield generators would make the Snake Eye look non-stock, the technicians decided to simply increase the power routed into the current shield generators. After a few failed attempts, the techs finally managed to increase the shield power - a solid 200 percent. To prevent the shields from overloading and exploding when hit by enemy fire, the technicians installed an excess energy discharger in the aft end of the ship. When an energy weapon impacts the ship's shields, the excess energy is routed to the discharger where it arcs between two poles and dissipates harmlessly into space. The engineers then got to work improving the maneuverability of the ungainly ship. Once again, adding extra maneuvering thrusters was out of the question, so more power was routed to the existing thrusters. This gave the Snake Eye substantially more maneuvering than a stock Action VI.

The next modification performed was the addition of a sophisticated communications array. Stock Action VI's come with low powered, short range communications modules - something undesirable for a ship that must remain informed at all times. So the technicians scrounged together a Sienar Fleet Systems Ranger subspace transceiver - the one used on Imperial Star Destroyers. The Ranger gave the Snake Eye a broadcast range of one hundred light years - more range than the comm operators could possibly want. A HoloNet uplink was next, though this modification was done under tight security back at Heiter Securities. The addition of a HoloNet uplink allows the ship to receive and transmit instant communications across the galaxy - a great benefit when the Snake Eye is on a mission in a distant sector and must be recalled.

The final modification to the Snake Eye was the addition of a docking ring and tube on the dorsal section of the rear cargo hold, between the connecting shaft and the engines. When a ship docks with the ring, a small tractor beam latches onto the ship and immobilizes it, assuring that the attached ship will not move and break the seal, causing a potentially catastrophic depressurization. A small, vacuum sealed umbilicus extends from the ring and attaches to the other ship's ring. The tube is pressurized and the hatches on each ship are opened. People can then safely transit between the two vessels.


STATS

Craft: Modified Corellian Engineering Corporation Action VI Bulk Freighter
Type: Medium Bulk Freighter
Scale: Capital
Length: 125 meters
Skill: Space Transports: Action VI Transport
Crew: 10 Skeleton: 6/+10 Gunners: 8
Crew Skill: See Crew
Cargo Capacity: 20,000 metric tons
Passengers: 100
Consumables: 3 Months
Cost: Not Available For Sale
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x1
Hyperdrive Backup: x10
Nav Computer: Yes
Maneuverability: 2D
Space: 6
Atmosphere: 330; 950 kph
Hull: 4D
Shields: 3D
Sensors:
     Passive: 50/1D
     Scan: 100/2D
     Search: 150/3D
     Focus: 6/5D+1

Weapons:
8 CEC AG-2G Quad Laser Cannons (Concealed)
     Fire Arc: Turret (2 left, 2 right, 2 front, 2 rear)
     Scale: Starfighter
     Crew: 1
     Skill: Starship Gunnery
     Fire Control: 3D
     Space Range: 1-3/12/25
     Atmosphere Range: 100-300m/1.2 km/2.5 km
     Damage: 6D

Concussion Missile Launcher (Concealed)
     Fire Arc: Turret
     Scale: Starfighter
     Crew: 1 (Fired from bridge)
     Skill: Missile Weapons: Concussion Missiles
     Fire Control: 3D
     Space Range: 1/3/7
     Atmosphere Range: 50-500m/1km/5km
     Damage: 9D

Starfighter Complement:
     Six Modified Y-Wings
     Cobra-1 and Cobra-2
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This is an original work by Ross Hedvicek