Vehicle Design and Reference Redux

Name: Elapsoides Decoy Drone
Role: Long-range Decoy
Armament: None

An Elapsoides is little more than a hollow frame supporting a fusion torch, a tiny eezo core, and strategically placed heat sinks. The drone carries no armaments, no armor, and kinetic barriers capable of stopping nothing more than random space debris. When fully assembled, the Elapsoides can be configured to mimic the tiger-stripe profile of a variety of frigate and cruiser classes, appearing more or less identical to real ships to long-distance infrared scans. To fool enemy ladar, the drone can be outfitted with a plating that matches the visual appearance of ablative armor; however, it is usually not worth the extra cost, since any enemy close enough to get a good ladar read would be able to tel that the Elapsoides was not firing.

When not in use, the drones can be collapsed into a much smaller for for transport on a large freighter.

Advantages: Cheap, easily transported, useful for deception or drawing fire.
Disadvantages: No offensive capabilities, mostly useless once opponent figures out the ruse, cannot imitate antimatter-propelled ships.


Name: Cemophora Support Drone
Role: Anti-GARDIAN
Armament: None

The Cemophora was originally conceived as a smaller version of the Elapsoides: a cheap fighter decoy intended to overwhelm and distract enemy GARDIAN defenses through weight of numbers. Molurus Aerospace engineers decided to increase its effectiveness by filling the mostly empty sections of the frame with highly refractive microdiamonds. If the drone is destroyed by enemy GARDIANS, the hundreds of millions of microscopic diamonds will be released, causing any future GARDIAN beams that pass through the wreckage to spread and weaken. Thus, the Cemophora serves to cover the real fighters in life and in death.

Advantages: Cheap, provides Anti-GARDIAN benefits both before and after destruction
Disadvantages: No offensive capabilities, required in large numbers to be effective against targets larger than corvettes, enemy ships can move to counter the effectiveness of diamond fields.

A fully armed Panar-Imitation Transgression

Name: Transgression Combat Drone
Role: Frontline Combat Drone
Armament: Permanent: Monomol Blades (Teeth, Back, Claws, Limbs, Tail). Variable: Mouth, Back and Tail mounts.

Description: The Theocracy of Gruul had long had a fondness for its warbeasts. It bred a huge variety, meant to do everything from ruin ecosystems to perform anti-air fire. When Urdnot Fal took over the role of Hierophant just before the outbreak of the Reaper War, he decided to expand that fondness into Gruul's drone program. The new model, the Transgression, was created with a VI based off of the behavioral patterns of various warbeasts, making them uncannily intelligent, versatile and aggressive. A perfect fit for Theocracy tactics. The Transgressions were designed in several lines, each with a unique VI set patterned after a different warbeast.

Transgressions were put into mass production just in time for the Reaper War, where they were used to great effect during the Battle of the Wreck and the Push on Ivilti Daram. Currently many Gruul Remnant factions use remaining Transgression classes, while Ad'Thoro Pact and Corporate researchers have been reverse engineering the things.

Rumors that Transgression Cyborgs show signs of animalistic learning and personality development, causing them to act differently as they age, are, of course, utterly ridiculous.

Advantages: Intelligent, durable, incredibly mobile, utterly fearless, tactically flexible.
Disadvantages: Hyper aggressive, relatively difficult to control, lack of effective options to combat heavy infantry at range, attaching weaponry to back mount greatly hinders mobility, less intelligent than actual warbeasts, cost of programming new VIs

Class Name: Centurion

Ship Classification: Heavy Cruiser

Description: With the slowly recovering loss of Dreadnoughts sustained by the hierarchy during the reaper war, the turians needed a command vessel that could easily take the place of a dreadnought as a fleet flagship with less time and resources needed for production. The vessel was originally to be designed as an emergency replacement to be produced quickly during the reaper war. The engineers behind the project, filled with the burning desire to take back Palaven, finished the design in less than 120 days. However, the design, dubbed the "Miracle Cruiser" for it's insanely low development time, could not be produced before the end of the war due to the Hierarchy's insufficient Industrial Capacity, the remainder of it being allocated to the construction of the Crucible.

After the end of the war, the design was given a second look and was green lighted for production as a way to quickly rebuild the Hierarchy's naval ability in the aftermath of the Reaper War. The cruiser was designed with two main Mass Accelerator guns. One on the top spar, and a slightly larger one on the bottom. Between these spars lie both slightly larger then the norm broadside accelerators attached to the bottom of the space, as well as an auxiliary main gun designed above the broadsides.

On top of this, state of the art GARDIAN systems, a standard issue cruiser hangar bay for both troop transports and fighter escorts as well as numerous layers of ablative armor make this a very effective flagship vehicle. However, the advantages of this vessel are balanced out by a truly shit ability to gain forward acceleration, as well as terrible maneuverability. This drawback has led to the common tactic of fleets led by a Centurion to enter the battle moving quickly to begin with and close the gap between forces while using the main guns, which are made much more effective by the speed that they're going at to begin with, before using deceleration thrusters on the vessel and using it's broadsides to engage the enemy fleet with overwhelming force in true Hierarchy fashion. This tactic was made famous by Velor Vevedix during the battle of Veratix station.

A post reaper technology variant is being worked on by the Hierarchy at this time. It's modifications include replacing the auxiliary accelerator with a Thanix cannon as well as using upgraded ultraviolet GARDIAN lasers and reaper tech heat radiators. The design has been finished but production has not commenced until the price of the reaper tech involved drops enough to make it actually cheaper then the dreadnoughts it's supposed to replace.

Role: Flagship, Command vessel

Notes/Interesting Shit: Vessel was designed for use as the flagship of the 3rd Veteran's fleet in Combined Arms.

Drowned in a testing simulation.

"I'm a good at what I do, I know my business, I know my targets and I've only broken off a strike twice after we'd already committed. Once when we saw that an entire fucking flotilla had beat us to the convoy and once when we saw a wing of Drowned pulling out from concealed cells in the flagship."

-Captain Sean Jones of the Weeping Lady, Privateer in the employ of the Cities of Stone

Class Name: Maestro
Ship Classification: Support Craft
Description: It is one of the sad, sad, facts of life that, no matter how hard you try to brand something with a thematically appropriate moniker, sometimes some asshole from the Abyss tosses out a nickname and it sticks. And there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it. Such is the unfortunate and unenviable plight of the Marketing Department of Stymphalian Aerospace.

The craft is called the Maestro on all official company memorandum, all design documents and reports refer to the fighter as the Maestro. However if you point to any given Maestro and ask the owner what, precisely, is the name of the piece of military tech sitting on the docking pad they will tell you, without fail, "Drowned One" or simply "Drowned". Ironically enough this includes pilots, mechanics, and commanders in the employ of the Titan Corporation (much to the chagrin of those in Marketing).

Nobody is quite sure how it started never mind who started it, any references to either are anecdotal at best and reek of a self developed mythos. In any case, a number of corporate outposts and naval bases have taken to the name and, one has to admit, it suits the fighter perfectly in it's own strange way.

The Drowned is a durable craft that sits on the upper edge of most groups budgets. Relatively expensive? Absolutely. Worth it? Oh so, so very much. Drowned function on the basic principle that the whole soaking up GARDIAN fire routine is what unmanned drones are for, fighters are for scoring the hits that cripple and gut heavy ships. The Drowned is designed accordingly: virtually all power from the onboard fusion plant is devoted either towards the primary thrusters and maneuvering jets or to the weapons systems. Those who haven't seen the weapons systems tend to think that the allocation of so much of a finite resource is a tad overkill.

Then they actually see the weapons systems.

Four heavy MA cannon capable of boring through the armor of anything corvette weight and below. A trio of Baton-class laser arrays designed with the express purpose of turning precise, specific targets on enemy craft into so much slagged armor and tech. Multiple missile pods. An Amphitheater drone control node to coordinate and direct the swarms of mechanized units that follow the Drowned into battle, screening and protecting the command craft from incoming fire. All supported by enormous, efficient heat sinks and a high performance engine hooked up to an already incredibly agile craft.

The one place, aside from price, where the Drowned truly suffers is in its defenses; it's sole protection being a completely unexceptional set of KB's, the mecha escort, and the fighter's own agility.

As with all Stymphalian ships the Drowned is customizable to a degree, it's sockets and ports waiting for the day when reaper based tech finally becomes cost effective to implement among the private fleets. Because that's when things are going to get fun.
Role: Flight leader, nuker
Notes/Interesting Shit: The Drowned is, in essence, a (somewhat) affordable hero ship. The pilot leading his/his squadron of disposable drones against the enemy and hopefully not getting their ass handed to them in turn :P.


A painting of a specimen from Project Silver Card (Delta-001) as done by project head Dr. Javier Ortega.

"And it was then that the child saw that dragon was only a dragon and the man not a man. The raven landed on his shoulder and croaked in his ear 'Do not fear the winter wolves and the bringers of flame, they do what they do because that is all they know; you are more than their match. Fear instead the men with shadows in their eyes and ice in their hearts and fear their works; for they care naught for the realm of mortal ken and will twist all they lay a hand upon to serve them and them alone'."
-A fragment of a nursery tale thought to originate within the Brother's Circle.

Unit Name: Fomori
Creature Classification: Warbeast
Description: The seed race for the fomori is a species native to the icy, barren world of Skardai. A slow rotational speed and weak sun coupled with a prime location right on the far edge of the Goldilocks zone leaves most of the world's surface covered in perpetual twilight. What light there is largely obscured by either the mists, slow seasons, or driving arctic storms. What population there is on the planet is generally confined to massive, heated, subterranean military and civilian complexes under the ownership of the Titan Corporation. Far, far outside these self contained bases the cyrandil nest in massive hives built into the glaciers, cliff walls, and cave systems of the planet itself. They are one of the world's top tier predators, a pseudo eusocial species that hunts fish and whale analogues in Skardai's frozen oceans, the massive burrowing worms that delve through the crust, the vast herds of tundra herbivores, and, not uncommonly, other colonies of cyrandil. They are in turn hunted by semi-sentient, partially geologic, monsters the size of small mountains, absolutely terrifying oceanic creatures, and packs of burrowing arthropods.

Unlike a truly eusocial species (such as ants or bees) cyrandil colonies are composed of numerous breeding pairs with the young raised communally, genetic diversity being bolstered via the stolen eggs of other hives. In the wilds they are formidable opponents, lethal within minutes out of the shell and fast maturing. Their razor sharp talons and spike tipped tentacles capable of ripping through ME field manufactured alloys, their hardy physiology allowing them to virtually shrug off most small arms fire, and this is of course completely ignoring fact that they number among one of the comparatively few animals who have a natural biotic aptitude. Multiple instances of cyrandil generating diffuse but forceful Throw and Pull fields has been recorded and confirmed by xenobiologists employed by Titan.

When the bioengineering tech of the Theocracy of Gruul fell into corporate hands, the very first project was, inevitably, the cyrandil. Quarantining an entire hive, Titan personnel began attempting to replicate the Hierophant's extraordinary accomplishments. The first three strains experienced set back after set back and were ultimately abysmal failures; the fourth, Delta, was a complete and unmitigated success.

The fomori were born.

Despite their alterations the creatures are still, fundamentally, cyrandil. That being said the implants are extensive: a modified lift harness alongside other pieces of cybernetic augmentations and gene therapies are grafted into their bodies; the neural foundations for most of the more visible enhancements laid while the creatures are still in artificial wombs with the actual hardware being integrated shortly after the fomori reaches maturity.

The result is a lethally fast and fanatically loyal airborne predator capable of going toe to toe with IFVs and, given the element of surprise and numbers, shuttles.
Role: Shock and awe with a side of terror. Deployed as auxiliaries or on search and destroy missions.
Notes/Interesting Shit: Well you didn't think that Titan was just sitting on all that wonderful wonderful Gruul tech now did you?

I'm not much for coming up with this kind of stuff, but I'm sure one of you can do something with this. :P

Apologies they aren't strictly "vehicles", but I thought that here was a good place to put them for reference and refinement before they go up on the wiki.

Note on Warbeast tactics: In many ways, warbeasts are not so different from their mechanized counterparts such as the LOKI's or YMIR. They are used to sow fear and confusion, deny an area area to the enemy, disrupt unit cohesion, draw fire and attention. They are eminently disposable. Of course, unlike mecha, warbeasts are savage. Brutal. They can be "aimed" but not ordered. Trained but not controlled. Domesticated but not made safe.

At the end of the day, neither mechanized battalions nor warbeast hordes can truly replace a unit of men and women. But a few dozen terrifying and bloodthirsty creatures can give them a definite edge in a warzone.

A skin-walker male in containment, 4.5 seconds after deactivation of holographic foliage.

"They are pack animals, adapted to the hunting of primate analogues throughout the jungle. I believe that the practical applications should be self evident."
-Dr. Payva Dor Aifis Siron Bamam Roposo Fixi, Project Floodplain second.

Unit Name: Skin-walker
Unit Classification: Warbeast
Description: Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Basarav metus, more colloquially known as "skin-walkers", is that they are, by and large, unaugmented. Their speed, their agility, their killer instinct; the toughened hide that can shrug off small arms fire, combat apps, and biotic attacks; the shifting patterns of camouflage under their scales that allow them blend in with jungle brush or industrial infrastructure; their toxic bite and venomous spittle, their razor sharp claws and frightening mobility (more than one soldier has been eviscerated by skin-walkers clinging to the ceiling or walls) are all native to the creature.

In all actuality the Theocracy's vast libraries on the "domestication" (for want of a better word) of potential warbeasts were of far more value than their bioengineering tech. After harvesting enough genetic material and individual specimens from the massive, hostile jungles of Invidiam; Titan's primary obstacle was in actually training them. Skin-walkers are pack oriented in nature and could, theoretically, be molded into fighting form much like dogs or varren. In practice, attempting to assert authority over aggressive, predatory, seven foot lizards is a...learning process.

But, the results speak for themselves. Skin-walkers are not Fomori, what augmentations they do have (mostly pertaining to strengthening the hide and decreasing reaction time) are unobtrusive and inexpensive. And, while rather easy for trained groups to take on individually, they should never be underestimated. Where there is one, there is almost undoubtedly more and Skin-walkers will die to protect their imprinted handlers.
Role: light infantry auxiliaries, mobile shock troops for mobile soldiers
Notes/Interesting Shit: Skin-walkers, while being discovered, named, classified, and, eventually, fielded by the Titan Corporation, are very new. The Fomori were the corporation's first attempt to create a new creature from, essentially, the ground up. The skin-walkers were the corporation's first attempt to co-opt an existing animal and so bore the brunt of most of their mistakes.


Draug surfacing.

"The first thing I thought when I heard them singing to each other was, 'they sound like whales, holy fucking shit they sound like whales'. 'Course my unit gave me a 'What the fuck is he talking about' look, but, you know, none of them grew up on Earth. They sounded just like the ones I saw off Nova Scotia back in the UNAS. They sounded beautiful."
-Corporal Jonathan Simosk; Myrmidon Security Services handler

Unit Name: Draug
Unit Classification: Warbeast
Description: The Dire Wyrm are, unsurprisingly, more than a little wormlike. Originally created by the Theocracy of Gruul to attack colonial infrastructure and cripple agriworlds, by happy coincidence a creature capable of literally "swimming" through the crust also proved adept at ambushing units of soldiers and armored vehicles. Massive, spadelike, claws on powerful limbs allow these snakelike creatures to rapidly tunnel through dirt, rock, and, given enough time, most modern building materials up to and including reinforced metal. Large glands and chambers located in their thoraxes generate localized sonic pulses, shattering whatever's ahead of them and allowing the beasts to communicate across kilometers of solid earth. Said pulses can also be used to disorient, stun, or even kill soldiers depending on how close they are to the Wyrm. Close ranges or a particularly focused blast can damage or outright destroy soft tissues.

When Calamity station fell, the Theocracy's vast genebanks were ransacked by Titan forces. Dozens of templates, samples, and entire specimens were quietly secreted away, smuggled into Titan held areas of the station. The Dire Wyrm was one such sample. Rechristened the Draug, the warbeast has been bred by the Corporation in clandestine labs and sold to discrete parties throughout the Terminus and Abyss.
Role: Sabotage and ambush.
Notes/Interesting Shit: Dire Wyrms themselves are native to the wastes of Unvolkan; a notorious port of call for Theocracy raiders and privateers.


Helmet cam shot of a Rawhead in the fog.

"Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb; Mary had a little lamb its fleece as white as snow. Everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went; everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go."
-Terran nursery rhyme

Unit Name: Rawhead
Unit Classification: Warbeast
Description: For all their loud, thundering strength and fixation on imposing buildings that could intimidate people when they weren't around to do it personally, the Theocracy was not above appreciating the subtler things in life.

Like, say, the mechanics of fear.

And everything about the mottath is engineered to evoke fear. The fog they can breath and pump into the environment from hidden vents and organic bellows contains suspended heavy metals and compounds that scatter tactical scans and outright swallow numerous methods of detection. Thermal imaging is deceived. Sound is distorted and muted, masking movement. The mottah itself is, of course, only moderately inconvenienced. It's face is eyeless, little more than a maw of razor teeth, the ears have long since adapted to the audiotry illusions created by the fog and the sensory organs in place of eyes detect electromagnetic fields (such as, say for example, armor and the nervous systems of organic creatures) instead of light. The armored plates shrug off sustained automatic fire and point blank shotgun blasts. The creature's fast metabolism drives both an impressive regenerative factor and an absolutely ravenous hunger when in active combat mode, leading the beast to savage downed enemies. It is fast, agile, quiet and physically intimidating.

The psychological effect of facing a monster in the fog, it's face dripping with blood is somewhat obvious.
Role: Terror buffet with some fear for desert
Notes/Interesting Shit: Another of the company's "acquired assets".


"And they spoke with voices like the wind rustling through fields of bones, 'We are the devourer. We are they who come before. Who are you to stand against us?'"
-The Tale of Yal-enaer, Chapter Sixty Two, Verse One Hundred and Five

Unit Name: Abaddon
Unit Classification: Warbeast
Description: Marker wasps are vicious, football sized insects used by the Theocracy to "paint" targets with pheromones (drawing other warbeasts to the unfortunate person's location) and provide a degree of coordination to large, varied swarms of engine-beasts in the absence of handlers. While individually weak and decidedly frail (a good shot from a flamer will drive a flight away) Marker wasps have at their disposal incredible maneuverability, venomous stings, mandibles that can punch through nanomesh, and the strength of numbers. As a general rule of thumb, letting one, much less a swarm get close can be bad in all kinds of ways.

Of course that assumes that you have a choice in the matter.

Enter Hive Missiles; A Titan creation, hive missiles are canisters several meters long that can survive re-entry and extreme shocks with minimal damage to the payload. Designed to be deployed in the area of operations primarily via heavy dropships or corvettes; they are...basically what they sound like. Colonies of marker wasps (warriors, workers, queen) contained in a long range delivery platform. Upon impact the insects are awoken from their dormant state and disperse into the environment, neutralizing all without the appropriate biochemical markers in the immediate area before constructing nests.

It's an enjoyable of a prospect to face as one would imagine.
Role: Securing infrastructure, support
Notes/Interesting Shit: Actually just adding on to a pre-existing concept, all credit to Havoc.


Elder (nickname: Jack, ID-tag: A-2239-O) off the coast of Eastland.

"Seachd sgadain, sath bradain; Seven herrings, a salmon's fill;
Seachd bradain, sath ròin; Seven salmon, a seal's fill;
Seachd ròin, sath mial-mòr-mara Seven seals, a large whale's fill
Seachd mial, sath Cirein-cròin Seven whales, a Cirein-Cròin's fill"
-Gaelic rhyme

Unit Name: Cirein-Cròin
Unit Classification: Warbeast
Description: Fun fact number one: a great many colonies and major population centers are located either nearby or directly adjacent to significant bodies of water.

Fun fact two: The creature known as the basaris lives in the vast planetary oceans of Castille.

Fun fact three (my we're just on a roll aren't we?): Prior to the war an ostensibly Citadel-space based company with extensive interests in the Terminus and Near Abyss acquired the official rights to Castille. Construction on a number of decidedly large complexes began almost immediately.

Fun fact four: Can you guess which corporation with access to oodles of bioengineering tech controls the world of Castille?

Well done.

The Cirein-cròin is one of their deadliest predators. Full stop. Capable of achieving truly massive lengths as they age the serpentlike monster can tear through everything from infantry to (again depending upon the size and age) urban infrastructure. Propelled by a powerful tail, high efficiency eezo augmented muscular-skeletal system, oarlike fins, and tentacles the warbeast is lethally fast in the water and a force to be reckoned with when it heaves itself up onto land.

Their hides, armored against the fangs and hooks of even larger aquatic predators, are capable of resisting anti-tank rounds. Claws and tentacles, honed to a razor sharp edge and used to crack open the shells of massive crustaceans can separate a man's torso from his legs and peel open military vehicles. These abilities have been further augmented by company technology; but the Cirein-cròin's most devastating and longest range attack is something that mother nature herself gifted. And, as the saying goes, mother nature is an absolute bitch. The Cirein-cròin can launch (or spit more accurately) organic masses containing imbedded superconductive material over incredible distances. Upon impact a chemical reaction takes place between the compounds present, unleashing heat and electrical energy while flash converting the slug itself, the air, and everything in the immediate area into plasma.

Which is bad.

Well, bad for whoever is at the point of impact.

Despite being primarily oceangoing these snakelike creatures are amphibious; capable of taking to the land for brief intervals, although they must return to the sea or a nearby saltwater body to replenish their supplies of oxygenated water on regular basis. The other primary consideration for such a rapidly growing predatory organism is, obviously, the food requirements; fortunately the Cirein-cròin can usually feed themselves fairly well, whether on other sea creatures or their unfortunate...targets but, even so, taking pains to ensure that they are being implemented in an environment where they can replenish calories as needed is highly recommended.
Role: Giving their targets a healthy dose of thalassophobia, bringing down infrastructure, units, armour.
Notes/Interesting Shit: Despite being only very very recently released from the probationary stage, Cirein-cròin have already found their way onto the market. Eggs, juveniles (most common given their ability to be deployed and recovered readily), or adults (difficult to move on account of their size but decidedly potent). Elders are generally not for sale although this is largely due to the fact that there is no cost effective way to transport them (given that they are, in a word, fuckhuge).

Cirein-cròin may be chemically confined to a single stage.


"Seas seethe, land withers and dies, even stone itself is ground into fine powder over the ages but life. Life endures."
-Dr. Reyold Hamui, Biogeneticist in the employ of the Titan Corporation attached to Project Starry Sea.

Unit Name: Umibōzu
Unit Classification: Warbeast
Description: Living tanks, Theocracy stormwalkers look like lobsters from hell. And, in many ways, that description is not entirely inaccurate. The creature's native habitat, the continent spanning mass of chasms, razor peaks, and brackish pools known as Morsun's Crags (so named after the famed elcor explorer and privateer), is generally regarded as one of the most inhospitable places on a barren rock that could be charitably called a "Death World". Food is scare, comfort scarcer. The only thing that's actually in abundance are the predators. And even among them the stormwalker stands heads and shoulders above the masses.

Six heavily plated, armored legs form a shield around the body from the front while a long, segmented tail protects the back. Deceptively fast, capable of covering two hundred and fifty meters in a single burst, the stormwalker earned its moniker from the electrical blasts it can channel through its body. At close range the shocks will literally cook soldiers inside their armor, chew apart electronics, and gut vehicles with their attacks. Stormwalkers are also able to launch half-meter long spines from their tails with enough force to penetrate synthcrete.

They are the tip of the spear, the hardened core of warbeast hordes. Anchoring lines of dozens of different species, soaking up the damage, and dishing out plenty in turn.
Role: Shock and "AUGH".
Notes/Interesting Shit: Umibōzu trained by Titan personnel were rewarded with Susan Valois brand Neopolitan Deluxe™ and Fudge Brownie 'N Chocolate-Chip Cookie™ ice cream as part of their conditioning.

They have since proved inordinately fond of it.


Finished product.

"You know I feel like this is the point where we should all be going 'Oh spirits what have I done!?' but, if we're going to be honest here, what we've done is a damn fine job."
-Dr. Bacus Veso, head of project Stone Path during presentation of combat ready models.

Unit Name: Anansi
Unit Classification: Warbeast
Description: The creature designated Anansi does not, as a rule, strictly exist in nature. The keri'kor, a large, middling predatory species that occupies the thick bands of scrub and low brush between the jungles and the seas of Invidiam, does. But it is only the template, the chassis. Titan's capabilities, while limited, are still potent. And the keri'kor's physiology has been so enhanced and integrated with the genetic material of a melange of analogues to terrestrial crustaceans and arachnids native to the planet as to be only superficially similar.

Legally speaking of course, there is no such thing as the Anansi. Just as there are no facilities that mass produce warbeasts using technology seized from the genocidal Theocracy of Gruul for sale and distribution. Just as the Titan Corporation does not deploy such creatures alongside their ground forces in operations in the Terminus and Abyss, beyond the watchful eyes of the Citadel.

And the crablike organism the size of a small IFV, with the ridiculously sharp claws and blades or the organic carapace armor is certainly not in the last iterations of field testing for use against infantry and light armour.
Role: Fast, mobile, and lethal, Anansis are used for carving away units and quick, precise strikes.
Notes/Interesting Shit: Like the Cirein-cròin and Fomori, the Anansi was created by the Titan Corporation, of the three the Anansi is the most heavily modified, albeit in terms of raw form rather than post inception adjustments.

The Crosskey, a mining-specced Ea-Dagan/Cartha Rig preparing to land.

"The world might be shit
and the road might be cold
But hey
I walk on anyway
I walk on anyway."
-Dave Halms, "Twists" from the album Uniforms, Shoulder to Shoulder (2185)

Class Name: Ea-Dagan/Cartha Rig
Ship Classification: Miner/Light Frigate
Description: Mining, asteroid cracking, stripping, dredging, drilling, quarrying, planet splitting; call it what you like but, at the end of the day, modern galactic society is built upon the back of precious metals and ores. Platinum, iridium, palladium, uranium, and, of course, the ever present need for eezo. They drive the economy in the form of dozens of different industries and are a crucial component of anything more sophisticated than a toaster (and, to be frank, a fair number of toasters too).

As a result, mining craft are usually among the first types of spacefaring vehicles to be fielded by any fledgling nation. Ships designed and redesigned as new techniques are perfected and new technology developed. Originating as a joint venture by turian and batarian interests in the Terminus some forty odd years ago, the Ea-Dagan/Cartha Rig is the culmination of literally decades upon decades of experience in the field. Hardy and adaptable, possessing industrial grade heavy lasers, hardened kinetic barriers to ward off the clouds of debris, detritus, and other natural hazards that surround mining sites, mass effect tethers to anchor and/or suspend chunks of asteroids and planetoids, drone bays, and basic processors the Rig is optimized for harvesting large quantities of raw ore and transporting it to secondary refining sites (usually a nearby mining or constructor platform).

But, of course, invention is three parts necessity to one part accident and diversification is inevitable. The first significant deviation from the standard design was the realization that, if the onboard processors were swapped out with, say, fabricators, the Rig could be repurposed into a pretty damn effective engineering and manufacturing ship.

The second was the equally helpful realization that integrating a basic accelerator track onto the Rig's superstructure along with a handful of redundant heatsinks put a solid, reliable, defender at your disposal that could give any flotilla of normally vulnerable craft both a shield and teeth.

Take into account the regular hardware updates and newer, more efficient models released every couple years and it's easy to see how the Rig has maintained an enduring sense of popularity both in C-Space and the Terminus for the better part of a century.
Role: Mining, fabbing, providing an extra layer of defense so that you're not totally fucked if you get blitzed by pirates (fielding dedicated warships as escorts is still highly recommended though, Rigs can generally fight light frigates to a standstill and deal with pretty much everything beneath that but they're horribly outclassed by virtually everything else).
Notes/Interesting Shit: Rigs are generally based upon enormous, bargelike platforms (more akin to mobile, for a given definition of mobile, space stations than actual ships) that host the vast majority of the refining, construction, and (on occasion) mining tech as well.

An early visual simulation of S165885.

Class Names: Ship 165,885a. Class: Carrier. Branch: Hierarchy Emergency Relocation Services. (Carrier)
Ship 165,885b. Class: Carrier. Branch: Hierarchy Emergency Relocation Services. (Carrier)
Ship 165,886. Class: Transport. Branch: Hierarchy Emergency Relocation Services. (Transport)

Description:
The Reaper war brought about many new and innovative ship designs during its duration. Desperate, lethal, or just plain awful, the Reaper war had it all. It forced governments to think in new ways, and one of the results of that new thinking was the interesting case of a recently declassified pair of Hierarchy designs.

So recently designed that the Hierarchy hadn't even had the time to assign the ships standard classifications, S165885.C:Ca.B:HERS and S165886.C:T.B:HERS were a pair of experimental vessels designed by Hierarchy engineers in response to the dependence on QED hubs such as the Alliance base on Ontarom and substandard evacuation methods. 165885 was a Carrier originally designed with the dual purpose of evacuating citizens from planets where no hope was left and serving as a mobile communications hub. Outfitted with its own QED system, 165885 was intended to ensure that in the case of an attack on other QED bases, lines of communication would remain open between Palaven High Command and its forces. 165885 was also designed with much larger carrying capacity in mind, built to hold three times the number of personnel as standard Hierarchy carriers, at the expense of drastically lowered weapons systems. Upon further consideration, the design for 165885 was split in two: 165885a would serve to carry out its original purpose of evacuating at risk colonies, and 165885b would provide the hierarchy with a mobile communications center. As a result, 165885a had its extensive QED system removed in favor of more carrying capacity and additional power systems, with a single QED link with Palaven High Command.

165885b, on the other hand, underwent a massive redesign. No longer constrained by the necessities of front line travel or refugee housing, the ship was repurposed into a mobile communications and logistics hub. Areas formerly meant for evacuated citizens were reassigned as living quarters for troops, pilots, and minor officials. Hangers for 165886 and other evac ships were redesigned as sim rooms, workplaces, and cryo chambers. One area in particular was cleared to make room for an experimental refueling system, which would allow the ship to maintain reserves even in remote systems. In the event that contact with Palaven High Command was lost, officials onboard could seamlessly take over the role of an emergency government. Theories abound that, with such immense power reserves, the ability to hide within unexplored areas of space, and extensive military personnel, the ship was designed to serve as a contingency plan for the Hierarchy in the event of a failure of the Alliance. However, nothing in the design documents exists to support those theories, and the Hierarchy denies all such statements.

S165886 was nothing so fancy. With standard shuttles and transports either too slow or too small (or both) to effectively evacuate citizens from besieged locations, the Hierarchy engineering corps was given the task of creating a shuttle that could hold a large amount of people and avoid Reaper fire for long enough to make a jump to safe haven. 165886 was their response. Two times larger than the standard Alliance Kodiak, 165886 had a carrying capacity of up to 20 people. Having life support, a heavy duty Eezo core, effective maneuvering thrusters, and not much else, the ship was essentially a large, maneuverable box. The main idea with the ship was that the only thing that particularly mattered when rescuing citizens was that they could evacuate several at a time and that it could escape afterwards. The ship had barely any FTL capabilities whatsoever; relying on a fuel capacity large enough for two jumps that could reach from one end of a solar system to another. The ship was designed to make orbit, jump to the nearest friendly ship, and refuel while letting its passengers off.

This is where the pairing between 165885a and 165886 became evident. With its larger carrying capacity, 165885a could easily handle the stresses of evacuees, and its QED link would allow it to quickly inform High Command of any positions changing hands due to death or indoctrination. 165886 would have a safe, well protected docking station to aim for when using its second FTL jump, and could refuel more easily.

Though the designs never made it past the conceptual stage, proponents of the ships maintain that both are still worth Hierarchy approval. With a vast majority of Hierarchy colonies still beyond broken relays, the 165885 and 165886 designs could be re-purposed as exploration vessels designed to endure the long travels between clusters. Proponents point to the experimental He fuel processing system designed for 165885, which would theoretically allow it to travel to remote colonies without the need for constant refueling. Additional QED connection devices could be created to serve as communication hubs on disconnected colonies, while 165886 could be used to land officials for formal reintegration.

Role: Evacuation of colonies under attack, re-establishing contact with disconnected colonies, communications hub.
Notes/Interesting Shit: And this all came out of thinking of a way the Hierarchy could slowboat to its colonies, somehow. Thanks to Sandman and Havoc for assistance provided.

"It doesn't do a lot, but it does fun great."
-Ruso Tyderius, evaluating the Ensign's first production models

Vehicle Name: Ensign
Vehicle Classification: Sports Aircar
Description: When E&T Transport started, they had a very clear idea of what they wanted to make: easily-producible, small vehicles which had a unique hook to them to get buyers interested in their product. Their immediate thought was to create a performance machine for an equivalent price or less than the ubiquitous X3M, which they succeeded with using the narrow, tandem-seat Ensign, commonly nicknamed "The Stick" by enthusiasts and regular people for the resultant shape.

The design uses a mass effect field drive incredibly reminiscent of the perennial industry standard X3M, but since it only carries two passengers and isn't designed for much else, the Ensign is much lighter and has peppier performance as a result. As far as personal shuttles go, it has a stigma attached to it for its lack of room for cargo or more than two slim occupants, but makes up for it with its user-friendliness, ease of parking and performance.

The small size and minimal running costs have made it popular with pilot's clubs and rental hubs, and the simplicity of the vehicle has given it a multitude of variants and a massive laundry list of options for buyers, including a kit that converts it into a single-seat racing type which atypically puts the pilot in the rear seat for balance and an improved feel, adds extra cockpit protection and stiffening bracers to toughen up the chassis, and vacates the front. Pilots describe it as an arrangement that takes getting used to, as opposed to sitting at the very front of the vehicle.
Notes: I figured I'd do this because I actually had trouble figuring what precisely E&T were supposed to be selling as their bread and butter design. X3Ms everywhere be damned; I want variety in my Mass Effect air traffic and I'll get it even if I have to fill the spots in myself.

Name: Kaavai
Ship classification: Shuttle
Description: The Kaavai, at a first glance, is an unusual design. While it has stealth capabilities, it sports no weapons, its cargo hold can barely more than a few crates and the barriers are just enough to protect from environmental hazards.

This all belies the main purpose of the Kaavai: A discreet transport. Designed by the Salarian Union in the aftermath of the reaper war for use within the STG, in response to the massive casualties incurred during Hammer's landing. The Kaavai is designed to enter a system, drop of its cargo and leave before anyone realizes something had entered the system. The oversized element zero core used within the shuttle constitutes half of its mass, outsizing most craft in its classification.

The standard use of the Kaavai is as a small, quiet low-capacity transport able to ferry sensitive cargo to and fro without being detected, perfect for resupplying clandestine outposts and hidden research facilities, though it could be used as a dropship for an infiltration team. The union has purposely kept the production of the Kaavai low for two reasons: The first being the exponential costs of producing such a ship, especially in a time where resources are at a premium. The other reason the Kaavai's production is kept down is secrecy; Other than high-level elements within the STG and salarian union, the only people that know of the Kaavai is the personnel that make use of them regularly.

Role: Stealthed Transport
Notes/Miscellanea: A slighty different take on a small-scale transport.

“These are the rules of nature:
Rule One: There is no such thing as cheating.
Rule Two: There are no true second chances.
Rule Three: Winner take all.”
-Expostulations on Survival; Warlord Agios Bavian of Rovkian

The advent of Cerberus technology (much of which benefitted from a hilariously massive R&D budget, stolen plans, and virtually no scruples) plus Reaper derived/Reaper prompted developments in the the fields of biotech, weaponry, plus vehicular and aerospace engineering threw the near perpetual arms race that is Terminus warfare into a state of disarray. The two years following the Crucible event have seen dozens of strong, innovative concepts fielded and hundreds more crash and burn even as the full results of the fallout from the so called “tech shock” become more and more evident.

Titan’s Crusader, the younger yet decidedly larger brother to the Apostle and focus of Project: Devilfish, is a child of this recent surge and, like the movement that gave rise to its creation, time will tell whether it was a stroke of martial genius and military design or an evolutionary dead end, doomed to never progress.

The first thing to understand about the Crusader is that it’s big. Topping seven meters standing straight it rises head and shoulders above even the Cerberus ATLAS or the Hasakish Takaander. The second is to understand that the mechanism is more organic in it’s modeling and design than it is industrial: bevies of heavy pistons and hydraulics form artificial joints, the superstructure is draped with vat generated synthetic nanocables to create an artificial musculature, the legs are modeled off a digitigrade anatomical model, appendages and extremities create a naturally compensating system of stabilizers.

It’s evident even at a first look from an untrained observer, the adjectives and descriptors they choose for the Crusader are all animalistic: snake-like, bird-like, wolf-like, tail, fins, wings.

Defensively speaking the Crusader balances both agility and protection; retaining ease of mobility and range of motion by virtue of fusing the aforementioned muscle analogue cables to a flexible armored layer. This layer, in turn, is draped with ablative and heavy plate which shifts and adjusts based on the movements of the sheath beneath.

Offensively speaking there are, in effect, five separate methods of attack available to a Crusader. The first, and most obvious, being it’s sheer size. The blocky thighs and legs of the mech can propel it at speeds rivaling and surpassing an IFV over even rough and unstable ground. Secondary venting and propulsion system enables aquatic travel while an element zero core comparable to those found on fighters and gunships coupled with maneuvering jets gives the construct overall a rare breed of agility, typically (and understandably) not usually found in something so large.

It can jump. It can charge. It can survive drops from high altitude, low orbit. It can navigate even within the tight confines of an urban environment and plow through enemy units and defenses by virtue of its raw mass. To say nothing of when the tail is employed.

The secondary (and marginally less obvious) offensive system are the twin pairs of heavy accelerator turrets anchored on the outer side of the upper thigh and shoulder joints. Relying on traditional cooling systems (ie, the venting of waste heat) rather than the small arms thermal clip system the turrets can maintain a relatively consistent stream of suppressive, high caliber fire. Moderately effective against armor and air support.

Highly effective against infantry.

The third system consists of, in the parlance of Omega, “a metric fuckton of missiles”, mounted beneath the back plating specifically. The vast majority are of the “swarm” variety. Small, relatively potent payloads, and designed more to overwhelm than to destroy, clearing out infantry, crippling IFVs and would be CAS, even potentially bringing down structures if they impact load bearing points. The rest are designed to breach hard points. Wipe out armor. And level buildings.

The “arms” (or “wings” or “fins” depending on who you ask) of the mech are vast, elongated oval like structures; from point to point, about as long as the Crusader is tall. They house the fourth system and its attendant facilities. On command the Crusader may extend a pair of superheated monomoleculars from the forward edge. The housing of the blades keys the material to a high frequency resonance cycle, amplifying and attuning the terminus of the constructs in order to maximize cutting ability.

Constructs are then electrified.

The remainder of the space within the arms is given over to shock dampeners (because it rather defeats the point of several meter long absurdly sharp superheated vibro electrically charged blades if your mech pulps its own limbs trying to use them), in addition to fabrication systems to maintain the blades themselves and their secondary effects. A duplicate, scaled down system is included in a similar sheathe within the tail.

The final, and most destructive weapon, is housed within the angular head of the Crusader: a modified Bol-Patarovax plasma fusion lance that draws power from the mecha’s onboard reactor. A directed energy weapon that generates intense amounts of heat and light which is subsequently narrowed and honed through a focusing array. The Crusader’s of which is activated and manipulated through mechanisms in the “throat” the almost petal like armored partitions of its mouth.

High energy demands limit the deployment of the lance (many an operator has been disappointed to learn that they will not, in fact, be able to generate armor slagging beams of raw energy en masse) but it’s extreme potency has seen it’s inclusion under the advisement of Devilfish.

Like the Apostle, like the ATLAS and any one of the dozens models of power armor or mechanized gear throughout the galaxy the Crusader is a manned construct, with the operator directing the mech through a sealed cockpit in the torso. However, given the size and incredible demands placed upon the pilots in order to effectively utilize the device’s agility, mobility, and suite of weaponry, traditional console based interfaces are largely non-optimal. It’s simply not possible, not feasible, for an organic individual to manage the multitude of data feeds from optics embedded in the Crusader’s head and armor, direct its movement, and still competently fight. As such Titan has forgone the typical in favor of a master/slave motive system: movements on the pilot scale are replicated on the mecha scale, mnemonics may be employed to activate weaponry, support VI’s manage datafeeds, granting the pilots a direct composite image from the cranial sensors while keeping he or she informed of events in their immediate vicinity.

In turn, in an effort to mitigate the disassociation between movements and action, the interface also has tactile feedback. Pilots can feel as weapons are used. Feel impacts from gunfire or heavy weapons. Feel the movements of their mecha as if they were their own.

And, theoretically, use said data to the maximum possible effectiveness.

ASI-23 'Astioth' technical
Classification: Converted civilian hover-cargo vehicle
Manufacturer: Argon Systems
Armament: Various modular weapons; 4 machine guns
Powerplant: LX-2 Fuel Cell

Converted from the incredibly common ASI-22 Longhauler, the Astrioth was rebuilt as a rapid-attack vehicle with modular capabilities - and in less than three days, due to the pressures of the Reaper War. It was so successful that an offical militarized version was eventually designed, and the (frighteningly simple) upgrade kit was rapidly sold out.

The primary design of the Astioth uses a pair of Shringa Supershot 4-tube missile launchers, fed by a 100-missile bin; 4 medium machine guns are hard-mounted, two directly below the cabins and two more in recessed sponson turrets. Separated cabins were originally designed to accommodate fore/aft loading of cargo without increasing the vehicle's vertical footprint, but have the added bonus of allowing the vehicle to make it back to base even if the gunner or pilot is killed - both sides have duplicate controls. Perhaps the most unusual part of the design is the modular rear bay, which can easily be swapped out for other purposes.

Variants:
Ammo Bin: Replaces the troop bay with an extended ammo bin. This design also allows the bin to be jettisoned if required, reducing the chance that an ammunition explosion would take out the vehicle.
Cargo: Replaces the troop bay with a cargo hold. The most common variant, and well-liked as it has fairly good weapons for a cargo vehicle.



BDK-3L Blood Kite
Classification: rapid response interceptor/gunship
Manufacturor: Argon Systems
Armament: 6 PGR-A Autoguns (4 turret-mounted, 2 fixed), variable missile bays
Powerplant: LR-B fusion

As the Reaper War wound down, Argon Systems found itself with a massive military production line. Deciding to diversify their holdings, they started to work on a vehicle that ended up as an homage to the Mantis Gunship, though with something of a different role.

Moving at speeds even faster than its inspiration, the Blood Kite packs a surprisingly powerful punch with its six autoguns. Four variable missile launchers give it some hardened target interdiction power, but the vehicle's light armor makes sticking around a poor proposition.

Base version of the HA-80 Mechanized Armor ‘Konshu’

Class Name: Konshu
Vehicle Classification: Heavy Mechanized armor w/ multiple versions and roles
Description: To say that the scientists of Valkar saw the Cerberus Atlas as a challenge would be an understatement. Working with various underground contacts, Atlas parts were scavenged from battlefields and shipped into the labs of Hak-kon Industries. The Konshu is the resulting design. Named for a large, aggressive beetle species native to the planet Choron, a Hak-kon Industries research world, the Konshu brings a mix of raw power, rugged protection, reliability, and adaptability to the heavy mech field.

The Konsu itself can come in various models, from missile and rocket platforms to construction rigging, and anywhere in between. Commonalities between the various models remain, however. A mass effect core, allowing for orbital drops, and the use of powerful jump jets to close distances rapidly or clear obstacles neatly. Likewise, the base model Konshu is marginally more armored than the Cerberus Atlas. There exist under and up-armored variants based on their intended roles.

Unlike the Atlas, the pilot’s chambers are sealed off from the outside, the pilot-facing side of the Konshu’s ‘head’ brings in optical data from the sensors on the hull, allowing for full protection without sacrificing visibility.

Common variants of the Konshu include an up-armored version foregoing jump jets and equipped with a battery of tear gas cannons, and fold out energy shields and batons for security and law enforcement. Heavy models designated for tank roles equipped with cannons and mass accelerators, and lighter models equipping a broad range of weaponry to fill multiple roles on the battlefront. Another

While not quite as nimble as other heavy armor models that have come out in the Reaper War’s wake, the multiple battle roles, superior armor, and not unreasonable price point make the Konshu a formidable force on the battlefield.

Role: Heavy Armor, various support functions based on model
Notes/Interesting Shit: It’s a mech!

Breaching the Fortress of Marankt Cin-nak during the final days of the Cycle of the Sun Insurgency.

Class Name: Sobkasynd Creed/Warm Currents Beneath Storm Tossed Waves
Vehicle Classification: Mechanized Exosuit
Description: To be a hanar in the Terminus Systems is to be bereft of many of the tools and resources that define the Illuminated Primacy and thus, the vast majority of the galaxy's perception of the hanar. There are no Compactees, finely honed fanatically loyal weapons capable of removing political opponents as easily as external threats at the discretion of their masters. There are no vast, system spanning orbital grids, no colossal defense platforms designed and optimized to tear capital ships to pieces. There is no geographically and culturally enforced isolation, no natural barriers and labyrinthine systems of etiquette to hide behind. In short, to be a hanar in the Terminus is to be a member of a physically frail species that requires extensive mechanical assistance to survive outside terrestrial waters, much less endure the rigors of combat with none of the natural allies or defenses that so graced your progenitors.

And yet a decidedly large number of hanar have not only adapted to the Terminus, they have thrived. By and large the children and descendents of heretics, political exiles, and excommunicated sects they are no strangers to struggle and strife nor to defending themselves if the situation requires it (and given the oft unstable nature of extra-Citadel space geopolitics, it frequently does). Their forms do not permit them to engage in direct confrontations?

Then they will build new forms.

Thus began the long and venerable tradition of hanar designed amphibious exosuits, almost exclusively produced by hanar for their fellows. Sobkasynd Creed or, as it is more formally known, Warm Currents Beneath Storm Tossed Waves is but one of the latest, and most potent of these designs. Prototyped, built, and distributed by the eponymous Sanctioned Cult (whose name has more or less become synonymous with the chassis itself) the Sobkasynd Creed/Warm Currents balances durability with tactical flexibility. An eye, as always, on potential applications in combat situations.

The suit itself is six limbed and bipedal with the legs and uppermost, primary, set of arms formed of false muscle nanoskeins, servo augmentics, and layered beneath ceramic plate. A secondary set of arms, which lays folded along the chassis's torso is derived from a similar pattern with the exception of terminal sockets to allow for modifications and the implementations of different devices or tech. Many hanar employ the Creed manufactured Manyfold Winds of the Tumultuous Sea modules, multipurpose attachments with a handful of easily deployable simple tools such as fabricators, Gentle Fans of the West Wind blades, disposable data spikes, and redundant digits for fine manipulation.

The cockpit sits within the back and torso, the pilot driving the mecha with their six tendrils while interfacing with the environment via data derived from the suit's cranial feeds. A Stone Breakers of the Shallow Bay Armored Atmospheric Conversion Hood envelops the pilot from the rear, deriving appropriate levels of moisture and atmospheric gasses from most Garden World type environments. The microscale mesh woven through the structure protects the pilot from shrapnel, debris, or accelerator rounds while still allowing for a degree of flexibility and membrane permutability. Of course, in the event the wearer of the suit finds him or herself not in appropriate conditions the suit may deploy collapsible partitions for environmental seals and utilize stored air.

Of course, after a certain number of situations in which hanar in motive armor have carved through opposing forces, a double edged sword effect starts to come into play. Namely, it has contributed substantially to many hanar no longer being afforded the status of "negligible threat" in the Terminus and Abyss.

But most would agree that this is really for the best.

Role: Customizable power armor for the truly alien among us.
Notes/Interesting Shit: Because why not?