Design copyright by Kow Yokoyama. The Banana Boat is a typical mercenary transport vessel used for delivering cargo or troops from Earth to orbit. They are widely used in Fireball assaults where the boats are used to send Fireballs to the lunar surface. The ships are automated and unmanned and rely on large disposable booster rockets strapped to the side to help the vessel reach escape velocity. When launched, there is a shield that is attached over the various cargo pods to protect them. In orbit this shield is detached, along with the now used rockets. The cargo pods of the ship are usually called 'bananas' which gives the craft its name, although sometimes they are also referred to as 'eggs' by the Strahl forces. Typically, the pods each hold a single armoured suit (and the ship usually carries either three or six pods), but other cargo can be carried, including a single Camel or Stingray craft, decoys or simply cargo. In operational use, the pods are launched from the main ship towards the target (although they are very limited in the way of manoeuvrability) and then when close to the target split open to reveal the contents which can then be picked up or fight as normal. The pods are single use but the main ship will follow its course and hopefully be picked up to be re-used later.