Mechs
Arrowhead
A nimble machine with fine offensive capabilities, Arrowhead requires pilot with excellent reflexes, one who’ll be gone long before big guns are rolled out. Best suited for scouting mobs ahead and aggroing them with surprise attacks, T-80 is capable of traversing even the most hazardous and difficult terrains at high speeds, and is equipped with 2×30mm Centry miniguns and 2× multi-purpose 6-slot rocket launchers.
Armadillo
One would probably expect a decent firepower from a medium-class mech, but Armadillo scores last in the category. Helmsmen went for a more balanced machine, capable of withstanding and dodging a significant amount of damage, particularly when crouching. Armadillo is built to wear its opponents down, and is especially effective when deployed in pairs.
Boulder
Every Boulder was made for one purpose: to crush. A fantastic 80/20 defense rating allows it to endure a lot of damage while dealing out punishment of its own. Boulder is good at that: mechs have a generally low damage output when compared to other machines, but Boulder compensates with a versatile arsenal, which includes a flamethrower, 2×40mm Centry miniguns thoughtfully upgraded with a lvl 2 TFX cooldown module, and a 12-slot rocket launcher. Running away isn’t an option, and given Boulder’s speed, it’s a precaution for its pilot as well.
Ground vehicles
Ghost
Fast travel is for losers. Get a Ghost.
They’re required (by Logan’s Law, no less) to inform you that this message was sponsored by Granite Corp. Please report this outrageous misconduct. — Vyne Lockheart, Director of Research of Helmsmen’s ERD, 523 AW
Offense & defense: n/a
Dunechaser (LAV)
In the early days of its development, this light assault vehicle was known as “Scorpion”, but for some reason the name didn’t stick. Dunechaser is a versatile machine able to conquer almost any terrain, provided no one’s there to guard it. Its attack potential varies greatly depending on the number of armed passengers it carries: when fully packed, it provides a decent firepower on par with that of an Arrowhead, although Dunechaser’s poor defenses still leave its crew vulnerable to almost any retaliation.
Capacity: 6 (driver, gunner and 4 passengers)
Caretaker
Helmsmen began mass-producing Caretakers after several prototypes successfully returned from one of many suicidal attempts to reclaim Aegis Castle from its Master Demon. The crew was dead, of course, and the machines operated on auto-pilot, but the result was still impressive. Production model offers improved 80/20 protection, provides decent firepower, which can be further improved by its passengers, and can ram almost anything with its heavily fortified front.
Capacity: 6 (driver, navigator and 4 passengers)
Raptor
The only thing that could stop Raptors during Kate Wars were top-of-the-line TFX androids stuffed with explosives, which is a poignant testament to the abilities of this deadly assault vehicle, as well as an indication of its vulnerability at close quarters. To compensate for that, Helmsmen started outfitting Raptors with Slate’s Arc Cannons, which delivered an unhealthy dose of high voltage to anyone susceptible to it.
Slate also brought in and installed its newly developed Plasma Cannon, which takes its time to charge, but: (a) you should never be in a hurry when inside Raptor, and (b) the result will always be worth the wait.
Capacity: 2 (driver and gunner)
Aircraft
Hornet
Tough little things, Hornets are a cause of great annoyance for their opponents. They carry decent firepower, and despite lacking the hard coating of Usurpers are notoriously difficult to bring down, especially if the pilot is skilled enough to know the limits of their machine’s maneuverability. Phoenix sacrificed many aircraft to establish dominant patterns of attacks by native threats and fortified Hornet accordingly. The result? Unless a strike is hard enough to bypass strong frontal defenses and deform the machine or kill its pilot, Hornet’s weak points will likely remain intact, allowing the time for an escape or a (suicidal) counter-attack.
Capacity: 1 (pilot; some modifications can additionally seat 1-2 passengers)
Usurper
Phoenix primary transport vehicle, Usurper is anything but defenseless or slow. It’s a big machine with complicated handling, and while anyone sufficiently qualified can operate it, only abusers and androids are capable of doing it efficiently. There are stories going around in docks about Usurper pilots making a drop only to see their party wiped out minutes later — and then finishing the job by themselves. Guess who tells those stories.
Capacity: 6 (1 pilot, 1 navigator/gunner and 4 passengers)
Airships
Beetle
Beetle was obviously intended to be pitted against Hornet, hence the name. It’s hardly an airship, but AmpArms has always had a strong marketing department. The machine handles differently from its counterpart (with the most notable distinction being its “diving mode”, which gives Beetle a slight edge in dogfights by improving its performance in basic flight maneuvers), and its specs vary slightly, but the statistics prove that ultimately, the success in an aerial skirmish still depends on the pilot.
Capacity: 1 (pilot; some modifications can additionally seat 2 passengers)
Stormrider
There’s nothing more beautiful and inspiring than an airship. You can’t seriously be comparing it to those tin cans. — Stef Cornell, chief designer of AmpArms, in his interview to Tali’s Digest of Art, 469 AW
Despite what some of its employees and its advertisements say, AmpArms hardly bears any romantic feelings towards airships — if the designs its researchers unearthed in The Library were of flying kettles, they would happily produce those instead. It was airships they found, though, and soon the dream of the pre-War civilization to soar above the clouds was reborn in a captivating and capable machine.
Capacity: 6 outside the cargo bay (2 pilots and 4 passengers)
Offense: n/a
Trains
One cannot overestimate the importance trains bear for citizens of domes, and social, cultural and scientific evolution of their post-War civilization. That trains have such unique properties was discovered by accident: a train of desperate refugees left one doomed place for another soon after the Collapse; not only did it reach its destination safely, having been ignored by Demons along the way, but its passengers also enjoyed the company of each other in the objective reality. For tens of years Tetrians thought speed was the key to achieving the desired effect, but the first launch of Phoenix aircraft in 72 AW proved them wrong as a solemn demonstration quickly turned into a bloody aerial parade. Hundreds of years later, the mystery remains unsolved despite many valiant attempts made by the best of their generations. Either way, most septs don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, and use trains to safely transport passengers and cargo between DCs without giving the phenomenon too much thought.
At least that’s how things were until the events of Sarin 12.
Manufacturers
Fierce competition in profitable trade, and the fact that almost every sept has their hand in one arms manufacturer or another, will surely preserve the established oligopoly on the market. It’s hard to imagine anything disturbing the status quo. — Vyne Lockheart, Deputy Director of Research of Helmsmen’s ERD, 521 AW
Helmsmen
Established almost 300 years ago, Helmsmen group manufactures mechs and most ground vehicles, as well as heavy ballistic and particle weaponry. It’s a high roller on the list.
HQ: Ares DC
Granite Corp.
Granite grew from a small contractor tasked with reinforcing the dome of Mira during Kate Wars to the largest manufacturer of defensive equipment on Kyos. For some reason, they also make Ghosts.
HQ: Mira DC
Phoenix
Many Demons can fly, not to mention some of the nastier birds out there, so taking back the sky after War was a bold endeavor. Flying is still quite dangerous, but Phoenix was the first to make it possible with its aircraft.
HQ: Ares DC
Slate Industries
For a long time, Slate was best known as the largest supplier of ballistic and particle firearms, but after Helmsmen admitted the performance of their Raptors improved dramatically with the installation of Slate’s experimental cannons, the Artasian group decided to establish a new subsidiary named Centry to expand into heavy weaponry and meet the needs of other major manufacturers.
HQ: Republic of Artas
AmpArms
The Nova sept had been growing increasingly worried over Ares gaining advantage in exploring the western part of the continent, so it dug out centuries-old schematics from The Library and established AmpArms to start producing a new type of machine based on pre-War designs: an airship.
HQ: Nova DC
TFX
TFX was formed soon after a small group of sawbones approached the Mira sept during The March of the Damned with an offer of assistance. Just twenty years later, people who used to make highly customized sex toys for their clients in the back alleys of Mira DC were now the owners of the largest manufacturer of androids and consumer and machine electronics on Kyos.
HQ: Mira DC
Pegasus-01
Little is publicly known about Pegasus — mainly the fact that it was probably built near the end of War, as there is evidence in The Library and some entries in “Diaries of Elara” which suggest that. AmpArms based its Stormriders on Pegasus-01, believing to have circumvented most, if not all, limitations of the older designs, but some of the company’s engineers came to think that they simply lacked the understanding to appraise some of the finer qualities of this ancient machine.
If only they could get their hands on a real deal.
Capacity: unknown
Relative stats: n/a
Stylesheet: n/a
