Space Pirate Assault Skiff

Space Pirate Assault Skiffs are modified ATCs equipped with a powerful tribeam cannon to support ground troops. The Assault Skiff usually uses hit-and-run tactics. It is faster and stronger than the ATC. Unlike the ATC, it is not made to carry troops, and benefits in speed from the lack of crew space. The weapon below the heat vent can no longer fire separate beams, and needs to be charged to before it can fire.
Samus encounters three Skiffs when defending the Theronian bomb aimed at Elysia's Leviathan. The Skiffs attack the Spire Pod with their cannons, causing considerable damage to its structure. If the Spire is destroyed, Samus will die. They appear alongside Pirate Troopers, who will distract Samus from concentrating her fire on the Skiffs. They are very powerful, but share the weakness of the ATC; the front vent is vulnerable to weapons fire. 
One can be briefly seen in the sky over the Bryyo Thorn Jungle's Field Access when Samus enters the room for the first time. It will pass overhead and will not attack. It can be scanned for a brief period. A crashed Assault Skiff (presumably the one seen earlier) can be found in the Jousting Field (the room where the Korakk boss is fought), after the Leviathan's Western Shield Generator is destroyed. Scanning the "downed spacecraft" reveals it was caught in the shield generator's explosion. It is found alongside a confused Advanced Pirate Trooper and a Pirate Militia, presumably survivors from the crash. The downed spacecraft will stay there for the remainder of the game.
==Logbook entry==
;Crashed (Jousting Field)
:"Crashed vessel appears to have been caught in the explosion from the shield generator."
==Trivia==
*Despite the Logbook entry stating that the cannon can be overloaded, and that the Skiff is less durable than the ATC, both are false. Skiffs are far more resilient to damage than ATCs. Firing at the cannon will have no effect, so it is likely that the developers confused the heat vent with the cannon itself.
*The Assault Skiff has a similar name to a transportation vehicle seen in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the Skiff. It is likely that the ATC superseded the Skiff, in favour of troop protection over the open-topped Skiff.
==Gallery==
File:Pirate assault skiff.png|Logbook model.
File:Space_Pirate_Assault_Skiff_2.jpg|Samus fires at an attacking Skiff.
Category:Space Pirate technology
Category:Bryyo
Category:Elysia
Category:Vehicles
Category:Space Pirate Vehicles
Category:Skiffs