Hydra Talon Boarding Skiff

The Alpha Legion introduced a boarding craft design they designated as a boarding skiff to the Stygian Empire.  At the insistence of the Alpha Legion this design was then mass produced.

The Hydra Talon boarding skiff was both void and atmospheric capable.  It was armed with four underslung missiles as well as articulated boarding claws.  It was capable of being flown by a lone crewman aboard but tended to rely more on a preprogrammed autopilot.  In the case of the Hydra Talon boarding skiff that autopilot was often an enslaved Malefic entity.

The Hydra Talon boarding skiff usually operated by carrying four underslung melta missiles for punching a hole in the hull.  The hull breach would be expanded as needed by the claws which would then anchor the skiff in place.  The ramp would then lower and the boarding party would storm the breach and attempt to take the ship.  The advantage of the Hydra Talon boarding skiff over a boarding torpedo was the skiff offered a fall back point for a boarding party.  It also allowed an unsuccessful boarding action to be withdrawn without the loss of the entire boarding party.  The Hydra Talon boarding skiff played a prominent role in the ambush of Fleet Quartus’s Battle Group Forthrax during the battle known as Kelmer’s Folly.  The Hydra Talon boarding skiff remains even now a frequent sight in the Stygian Wars.