Extractor Scow
Extractor Scows are massive raft-like structures, that are used by the Adeptus Mechanicus to harvest the gasses of Gas Giants. They are deployed from larger ships or Space Stations and have been in use, since at least the Horus Heresy.[1]
Description
The Scows' fronts have huge, spreading vanes of copper, between which are threaded thousands of kilometres of fine wires. These 'jaws' are reminiscent of the baleen of extinct Terran cetaceans and they project a magnetic funnel that directs the Gas Giants' desired gases into separation units. From there, the harvested gasses are then pumped into bulbous clusters of containment tanks running the length of the Scows. The majority of the crafts' mass, however, are the dozens of massive Grav-motor hemispherical directional impellers, that are connected to their undersides. The Scows are deployed in large formations that maximize the efficiency of their work and they are crewed by Tech-Priests, wearing armoured environment suits, and they are assisted by bulky servitors and rad-hardened Robots. In order to continue functioning within ionized atmospheres, Scows are equipped with magnetic arrays. These are activated, when the crafts begin their harvest, and the Scows trail coronal discharge from their static bleed fins. The crew can walk along on the Scows' decks, to do their duties, and they are escorted by flights of Vultarax. These Robots are remotely controlled by Tech-Priests, stationed within the larger ships or Space Stations the Scows are deployed from, which defend the crafts from anything living within the Gas Giants.[1]
Sources
- 1: Wolfsbane (Novel), Chapter 5
