Skiffs refer to the smallest of craft that are often used for short-range transportation. Utilized by both the United Nations (UN) and the Martian Congressional Republic (MCR) as well as by Outer Planets Alliance (OPA) and civilians for transport between vessels, stations, and planets. Variants include military dropships, short range shuttles, and repair skiffs.
The Marauder-class/type dropship skiff, also known as the M-type/class is a class of dropship skiff in use by the United Nations Navy (UNN) and the United Nations Marine Corps (UNMC). The larger is the Marauder-type (or M-type) dropship skiff, used by both the UNN and UNMC, which is typically deployed on large warships and houses a larger host of marines than conventional dropships. It is most commonly found on Truman-class Dreadnights and Xerxes-class Battleships. The Marauder-class also houses 2 Point defense Cannons (PDCs) for combat purposes and is 34 meters long, with 5 decks and 3 propulsion thrusters. The top deck controls the guns and pilots the skiff and there exist three side-by-side maintenance decks below the
The Insertion-type dropship, or the I-type/class skiff is the smaller of the two dropships and is hosted in the hangar bays of the Truman-class dreadnoughts used by the UNN and UNMC. These dropships strongly resemble the MCRN Troika-class dropship skiff. This class also has at least 1 Point Defense Cannon (PDC), and at least 4 other Machine guns purposed for defensive reasons. Unlike the M-type dropship, the I-type is more wide than it is long at 28 meters wide with 2 decks and three maintenance decks below that. The top deck is a command deck that controls the guns and pilots the skiff, while the deck below it is more spacious and designed to carry UN Marines and their equipment.
The L-Type dropship skiff is the smallest of the military skiffs. This class of ship is used by the United Nations Navy. It is designed to descend and ascend from a planet's surface into space as well as acting as a shuttle between ships. The L-Type bears a strong resemblance to the MCRN's Chariot-type. It is known that Earth and Mars use several different models and variations of L-Type dropships. A complement of six L-Type Dropships is carried in the hangar bays of Leonidas-class frigates.
The Troika-class/type dropship is a class of dropship in use by the Martian Congressional Republic Navy (MCRN) and Martian Marine Corps (MMC). The only Martian dropship to be mounted with ground-focused artillery, the Troika-class dropship can set down on any battlefield and provide heavy cover fire while Martian Marines pour out of it. It has 1 PDC mounted on its top and 4 machine guns mounted on its sides. It is 32 meters wide with 2 decks and three maintenance decks below that. The top deck is a command deck that controls the guns and pilots the skiff, while the deck below it is more spacious and designed to carry UN Marines and their equipment. Dropships are most often utilized to bring a complement of marines from an orbiting vessel to the surface of a planet. The MCRN utilizes the Troika-class dropship skiffs onboard the Scirocco-class assault cruisers, the Raptor-class fast attack cruisers, and the Donnager-class battleships. They can host a dozen Force Recon Marines suited up with Goliath powered armor in addition to a complement of standard Martian Marines, making best use of the utilitarian space by cramming in as many bodies as possible. In true MCRN fashion, the vessels themselves are armed and dangerous in their own right, and can travel quite a distance from their mothership on their thrusters, making them far more advanced and effective than other dropships. While the Troika-class has the capabilities to make somewhat long treks away from their berth, this is hardly an ideal situation if it is filled to the brink with marines. Ultimately, these ships are designed to drop through the atmosphere quickly and efficiently with their blocky underbelly cutting through and smashing into the ground safely.
The Chariot-type Dropship is a classification of dropship employed by the MCRN. Scirocco-class assault cruisers can carry a complement of three Chariot-type dropships and several are carried in the internal hangars of Donnager-class battleships. They can carry a complement of twelve Martian Marines alongside a complement of Recon Marines equipped with Goliath Powered Armor. Unlike the Troika-class, the Chariot is one single deck with small propulsion thrusters, but it does have 4 machine guns on its sides. The doctrine is that the Martian Marines provide enough firepower with their Goliath Armor.
The shuttle UN One is a VIP aircraft/shuttlecraft for use by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The shuttle has a luxurious interior and is capable of being stored inside the hangar bay of a Leonidas-class frigate. It is used to transport the Secretary-General across planets and the Solar System, especially for diplomatic meetings. When in outer space, it is always guarded by a host of, at least, 3 Leonidas-class frigates. It is capable of flying in a thick atmosphere like Earth's, where it is guarded by military aircraft. It has mainly electronic countermeasure defenses, as well as 3 PDCs, and is very, very fast. There is only 1 UN One shuttle.
The shuttle Martian One is a VIP aircraft/shuttlecraft for use by the Prime Minister of the Martian Congressional Republic. The shuttle has a luxurious interior and is capable of being stored inside the hangar bay of a Donnager-class battleship. It is used to transport the Prime Minster across planets and the Solar System, especially for diplomatic meetings. When in outer space, it is always guarded by a host of, at least, 1 Donnager-class battleship. It is capable of flying in a thick atmosphere like Earth's, where it is guarded by military aircraft. Unlike UN One, Martian One is larger and more militaristic, with 3 PDCs, heavy electronic countermeasures, and a small missile bay containing 20 missiles. There is only 1 Martian One shuttle.
Prospecting ships are spacecraft used to mine ice, valuable minerals, and metal ores from asteroids for commercial purposes. The ships that prospect and mine asteroids are varied and run the gamut from well-equipped corporate survey ships to barely functional skiffs. Larger ships have internal ore bays while smaller ships tow ore loads in mining nets. There is a process by which prospecting ships do to secure an ore load with a mining net.
Towing an ore load requires keeping a constant tension on the tow cables attached to the mining nets.
Thrusters are used to rotate and reorient the ship and cargo for deceleration burns, without changing momentum.
The ship fires thrusters to slow momentum of ship and cargo.
While most prospecting ships are unarmed, Belters have developed a tactic to defend themselves using their cargo against attacks. After re-orienting the ship and cargo as they would to decelerate, the ship instead disengages its mining net, allowing the asteroid rubble in the net to continue on to strike their target.