WB-417 Disposable Poly- Carbonate Wing Boards.
United Galaxies Council.			United Galaxies Council.
The WB-417 is technically a FAST Pack, though it provides no sensory capacity or fuel to its Mecha; It's a wing-board, designed specifically for the VHT. A special glue is applied to the dorsal Mecha cavity, with special emphasis placed on ensuring every nook and cranny is filled. You then position yourself over top in Transport mode and allow the glue to cure (or harden) for about 4 hours. During an assault, the VHT engages hovering thrusters to move themself out of a delivery platform (such as a GARFISH-Class Frigate), drop out the back, and glide down to the surface of a planet using the foot thrusters for "some" control. The wing board provides limited lift, but more importantly provides drag which slows the hovertank down; In reality this is mostly a controlled crash.   The best overall technique is to ride the board down to about 100 feet (or so, though REALLY gutsy guys would go further STILL), transform to Tank Mode, then engage foot thrusters at absolute maximum (around 165%), then switch BACK into Transport mode and engage ALL thrusters to full. The high heat caused by friction with the atmosphere on the board breaks down the glue, making it soft; The transformation process breaks the glue's hold, releasing the Mecha from the board.   This technique reduces downward momentum to a jarring but survivable 2½ or so gee's. When all else fails the tanker can bail out using a rocket pack to return safely to the ground.   With the advent of grav pod technology the use of the WB-417 has dropped due to safety issues; About 1 in 10 wingboards would fail in flight (from simple cracking during decent to full-out disintegration). However, a few were maintained in reserve elements in the event they are desirable for decades after.   Simplified versions of the wingboard had been in use long before the much larger-scale version used on VHT's were developed with one unit (REF 271ᣵᵀ Dragoon) using them in significant numbers (during the war with the Regent). Significantly, during the Terran Second World War most of the major factions made attempts at "glider tanks," with the Americans and British working jointly on one venture and the Germans working on a massive glider that could carry a light tank. The German effort was partially successful- The gliders could in fact carry the tank. However, the sole mission using these gliders ended in failure due to British intelligence interception informing them of the flight plan- All the gliders are destroyed before reaching their target (Malta). The Russians test flew a tank modified as a glider, and while the test was nominally successful, the landing was too hard for practical combat service; Additionally, in order to fly the turret had to be removed, making any combat action at all pragmatically impossible.   Though no sensors, etc. are integrated into the wings, they 'can' be; This is generally considered a waste however since the wings are disposable. With the advent of the Cemuh Drive the WB-417 became entirely obsolescent and use of the wing boards was subsequently prohibited. 271ᣵᵀ Dragoon was allowed to keep a few in inventory for display purposes, and members of the dragoon would occasionally try to integrate grav pod technology to the wing boards (to extremely limited success).   In their own time the WB-417 proved a shock and awe of ridiculous scale; Not many things convey the message that things have gotten real like literal tanks dropping out of the sky, but the wing boards were also high risk operations with dubious potential rewards (hence why a penal unit was allowed to use them; no one was ever assigned to, mythos notwithstanding). Grav pods and later Cemuh Drives made the risk/reward ratio untenable, even as when re-developed with steering systems.   Name: WB-417 VHT Wing Board.   Model Type: WB-417   Class: FAST Pack.   Crew: Not Applicable.   Passengers: Not Applicable.   M.D.C. By Location:
Fuselage/VHT Cavity-	60	Wings-	40 each
Statistical Data:
Height: 2 feet, 8½ inches Wingspan: 40 feet Length: 10 feet Weight: 50 lbs. Cargo: None.		Power Systems: None; The WB-417 is unpowered. Flight Systems: Standard aero-foil effect; Range: 500 feet safely (not counting glide path). Cost and Availability: 25,000€; Rare now, but a few million or so are in storage collecting dust. Estimated Black Market Cost and Availability: A few thousand credit, depending on quality.
Weapons Systems:		Features:
None. The WB-417 doesn't supply anything other than reduce the speed and control the direction of downward decent.		None: The WB-417 doesn't supply anything other than reduce the speed and control the direction of downward decent.
Combat Bonuses From WB-417 Disposable Poly-Carbonate Wing Board Use: Automatic Initiative. Horror Factor of 20; Totally terrifying. Even enemies that have experienced this (and survived) know this sh*t is "For Real." (Does not work on weapons systems controlled by automatic targeting systems.)
Deficits From WB-417 Disposable Poly-Carbonate Wing Board Use: -5 dodge; Once you're on the glide path, you're kinda stuck.