by Halfbat

Losshaven Engineering Corporation LEC-SC108g SteppeCrawler

Developed for use in vast frontier regions where storms and weather can be a serious problem, the 108g SteppeCrawler is popular in many of the Losshaven BorderLand ranches. Able to carry several "Ranchhand" speederbikes, as well as a landspeeder, the crawler is flexible, able to track the herds over long distances, and has proven itself as a haven in the vicious sand- and dust-storms on that world. Whilst built and proved in the heat, deserts and steppes of Losshaven, it can nevertheless be found in the frigid wastes of Keysh'kar, on the hostile tropical jungles of Halo Bay, and can now be found amongst the occasional Adhrooli clan as a defense against the predators on that hostile planet.

Built for the steppes and weather of Losshaven, the steppe-crawler was provided for those nomads or ranchers who neither needed the speed of Tauntauns, Steppethine or speeders and speeder bikes, and also wished for some comforts. It provides a complete, air-conditioned and comfortable "home from home" for a large family or up to 8 ranchers plus 2 crew. It can be compared with the sand-crawlers of Tatooine in offering a similar function as a "mobile home".

They are prized for their cargo carrying capacity and space, as well as having a licensed laser cannon, though often awkward to traverse, ostensibly for defense against predators or raiders. They are slightly armoured and, being solidly built, tend to last: they therefore retain their used prices, but second-hand crawlers may well have some jury-rigged flaws.

The Steppe crawlers are renowned for exceptional ranch-biased sensor capability: their sensors are very sensitive (+2 sense and +4 military-style fire control) to animals and items in the Small to Huge category (young to full-grown Bantha) but are otherwise very poor at smaller creatures (-5 on usage checks, +0 fire control) and average at larger sizes (+2). It has very good ground-based sensors, able to spot varying ground hazards such as quicksand, marsh, hard sand, skree, hidden canyons, etc, but has no ariel sensors at all apart from weather sensors. It has comprehensive links with the weather stations and storm-warning centres across the plains.

The crawler is equipped with heavy-duty winches and tow-cables, often used to rescue parent animals from skree or small canyons. They are also often equipped with an extensible repulsor-frame for lifting and harnessing recalcitrant animals (stored on the roof). Trailers are also an often-found accessory, either for carrying animals or with more living quarters. In an emergency the internal partitions can be knocked through to make a large medical theatre for surgery on creatures as large as banthas.

In addition to the Driver/Pilot and co-pilot/engineer, a communications/scanning crew member can be used, together with one or two computer techs. The SC108g can sleep up to 12 people at a push, with even more in its lounge, but this makes it very crowded: normally up to 10 are carried, with the two crew having their own cabins and the remaining ranchers only staying on-board during storms.

Like many LEC products, the SteppeCrawler is neither pretty, nor elegant but attempts to perform a single role. And as always, it does that very well indeed.