About the Weasel
The Weasel class is the dedicated small dropship of the C Quadrant Defenders space fleet.
A counterpart to the much larger and newer
Avenger class gunship intended to deliver and retrieve tracked combat robots like the V and W series on the battlefield.
The Weasel is considerably smaller, designed to deploy a single robot onto the ground at a time, and is crewed by only a pilot and robot technician.
While it could be used to deploy soldiers, it was designed with robots or combat equipment in mind, first and foremost.
The hull is based around a large central hold, with a well-armored forward cockpit providing excellent visibility for the pilot.
Beneath the engines are a pair of double-barrel medium point-defence turrets with a 180 degree firing arc, intended to defend the Weasel on the ground or while coming in for a landing.
The turrets are integrated into the landing gear to provide a stable platform for loading and unloading.
To maximize the internal hold size, many of the ships important systems are mounted on the roof.
A respectable radar and sensor suite is mounted on the roof to maintain awareness of the ship's surroundings and to act as a control relay for deployed robots.
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The Weasel and its crew: pilot and technician.
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The cockpit of the Weasel, showing the local air traffic.
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The pilot's view is superb, making landings easier.
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The engines are powerful, as are the point-defence turrets integrated into the landing gear.
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The aft of the Weasel. It's a very utilitarian design, no frills.
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To accomodate the large hanger, many of the important ship systems are on the roof.
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The radar and sensor suite of this stout little dropship is impressive.
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Engines almost as long as the ship itself.
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The medium point-defence turrets can each fire in a 180 degree arc around the ship.
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Let's watch a landing sequence in action.
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The ramp opens up to reveal a W3 tracked combat robot.
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As the robot exits, the technician follows behind, holding the robot's long range antenna.
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The antenna is re-attached, the robot is then given a weapon, and departs onto the battlefield.
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The Weasel is a super-utilitarian design, there isn't much style to this one.
It's the answer to the question of "without a jetpack, how does a tracked robot land on the ground?"
Do you realize just how tall these things would have to be to fit the robots with the antennas attached?
Also, you can see where I indulged in greebles to silence the critics on MOCpages when I posted it in September of 2007.
The roof greebles might be my favorite part.
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