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Dates and Comparative Units
These guides use galactic-standard dates and comparative units (to assess vehicle and starship capabilities), the explanations for which are given below.
Dates:
Dates listed on the galactic standard calendar. When given relative to present, this is relative to the year of writing (2347). To translate dates to Earth-E Julian (or Gregorian) calendar, simply subtract 326 years.
Units (Starships):
mc: Millilights. Acceleration from full stop, assessed over ten seconds (in fractions of the speed of light (c)).
MEU: Manoeuvre/Evasion Units: Comparative scale of manoeuvrability; derivation includes the nominal radians per second of maximum sustainable/safe G-force turns at a standard speed of 0.1c.
TXq: Teraxyllaqens (the x is pronounced “ch”). The xyllaqen (originating from Royal Elven Kingdoms) is a galactic-standard unit of (comparative) power (output or dispersion) measurement, assessed over a weapon’s firing period against a set accuracy band (for direct-fire weapons), by warhead yield (for warheads) or by maximum energy dispersion capacity before collapse for shields (assessed for a single, non-penetrating attack).
Starship armour is measured in Armour Integrity Capacity (in teraxyllaqens). This is assessed as the nominal point at which the armour has received sufficient Xq to have been penetrated/ablated to the point it is compromised (e.g. has too many holes in it to work).
For both armour and shields, these values are not necessarily indicative of deflective, ablative or penetrative resistance (especially with regard to lighter fighter or point-defence scale weapons), though it should be noted that for capital ship-scale weapons, these effects are small in relation to the effects of actual armour destruction, due to the very high power levels of starship weaponry.
Planetary-class weapons are usually classed without an accuracy consideration, since accuracy against their intended targets is a non-issue.
Xyllaqens are named for an Elven scientist. They were introduced to (before eventually being adopted by) humans during the first-contact data sharing. The use of the unit is due to the wide variety of wildly differing types of weapon, shields and armour types (both known and unknown). A direct comparison using, say, Earth-E IS energy units (e.g. comparing projectile muzzle energy to energy weapon Wattage) does not take these variations into account and could thus be very misleading or require that armour and shield be rated against each individual type of weapon separately, which could quickly snowball into an impractical number of ratings. (E.g. kinetic impact, disrupters, disintegrators, electroblasters, coldbeams, thermal, many different kinds of explosives etc. Even “thermal,” which includes lasers, lazers, blasters and plasma weapons would be an over-simplification, due to the variation in effect even those related weapons.)
Units (Ground Forces):
Vehicular-scale weapons and armour are categorised into Power Tiers. These are broad classifications of energy output (for weapons) or dispersion (for armour). Unlike starships, where the variance in magnitude tends to be more linear, the more varied ranges, fire-rates and differing power levels the Power Tier system includes an exponential component, and is not a linear scale. (Note that this means it does not have a direct conversion to TXqs.)
Shield ratings are categorised by Penetration Resistance and Barrier Strength.
Penetration Resistance is given as a percentage of deflection under standard test conditions.
Barrier Strength is an approximation of how much energy a shield can absorb from weapons before collapsing. Unlike the starship TXq rating, due to the lower forces and relatively much smaller geometries, deflection, penetration and other factors (such as atmospheric effects) are taken in account by the calculations. Barrier Strength is a derived factor obtained by resistance to a test-standard Tier 10 weapon benchmark.
Overview
The Cybertanks are a race of tank-shaped technological sentient/sapient creatures. They are motivated to a fanatical degree, not by simple conquest, but the extermination of all life that is not themselves; be they organic, technological or otherwise. (This extends even to Undead, though they seem not to be able to properly understand exactly what undead are, save that they are not Cybertanks, thus must be eliminated.)
It is possible to reason with a Cybertank, as they are intelligent, for a given value of “reason.” The Cybertanks have occasionally allied with other evil forces, but these alliances break down before long, as the Cybertanks simply revert to their natural state, which is to “ELIMINATE ALL ORGANIC LIFEFORMS!” (sic).
Cybertanks are, in theory, quite intelligent, and have a certain cunning. They certainly possess understandable emotions, being far from emotionless machines. Anyone believing them to be pure machine, functioning only on some twisted logic would be gravely mistaken; while they have a certain preference for logic, even that is only a tendency. What they do seem to lack is any form of empathy or compassion of any kind or any other redeeming trait. They hate though, and hate well. The second most common emotion seen in them, from outsiders at least, is their noted tendency to panic and shout a lot if things go wrong.
If it were not that their home system is easily the most heavily defended in the known galaxy, the Cyertanks would have been wiped out long ago by the collected efforts of the galaxy’s other powers. As it is, making attempting such an endeavour would is impractical to the point of suicidal.
The Cybertanks were humanities’ second contact among the stars, making them one of the human’s earliest extra-terrestrial foes. But the Royal Elven Kingdoms first encountered them as far back as 1646, over seven hundred years ago and given their advancement at that point and rate of technological progress since, it is believed the Cybertanks have been a spaceflight-capable civilisation for over a thousand years, if not longer. Given their omnicidal intentions, any minor races that might have been within their early FTL range likely did not survive to report on them.
The Cybertanks have periods of dormancy which can last years or sometimes decades. When they enter an active state, they send out attack fleets to attack everyone within their FTL range (which has only got larger as time and technology had progressed) until they are destroyed. The active periods are generally called “Incursions.” The most famous of these was Incursion 25[1] in 2331. The Cybertanks used a hitherto unknown form of FTL transit, made a massed attack on Earth-N. Only a hard-fought joint response from all of the human powers staved off the attack, but it was not without significant damage. The United Nations spaceforce, supposedly the most advanced of the human fleets, was functionally destroyed in the battle, though the individual powers (most of which have been absorbed in almost entirety by the GTSR in 2346’s surprise coup) fared somewhat better. It is also worth noting that the GTSR’s ground roots support seems to have dated from this period, with many civilians looking for someone to blame.
But those marauding fleets that form the Cybertank Incursions are literally nothing more than a drop in the ocean, excess waste. (It has even been suggested that the Incursion are just excess population, embarking on lemming-like attacks on the rest of the galaxy.) Fortunately, the Cybertank’s natural paranoia keeps them from exploiting this fact and wiping the galaxy out. It has been observed, to the point of proverbially, the Cybertank are “tactically clever, strategically dumb.” A fact for which the citizens of the galaxy should all be profoundly grateful.
Beneath the obvious murderous surface layer, however, the Cybertanks remain one of the most enigmatic races in the galaxy.
Taken from “A Spacer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, by Rear Admiral William Sandsborough (Ret), revised edition 2347[2]
The Cybertanks are perhaps the most infamous and ubiquitous of all our enemies among the stars. They are persistent, vicious and utterly committed to the destruction of everyone aside from their own kind. We have been fighting them for almost as long as mankind has been among the stars, and others for still longer.
Yet how much do we really know about our intractable metallic foes? The answer is, surprisingly, very little.
We know their technology and their tactics, certainly. But beyond that, everything is shrouded in mystery. Much of what we think we know is purely speculation or based on misconception.
So, what do we know?
The Cybertank’s homeworld is Metalyka, in the system of the same name; indeed, to the Cybertanks, they are synonymous. Even here, errors creep in, as the name is often incorrectly spelt ‘Metallica’ of ‘Metallika’ (even in many official documents); though the pronunciation is the same: “Met-AL-EE-Ka.”
The Metalyka system is arguably the most heavily fortified in known space. The entire system consists of a single G-type star, with four planets and two planetoids.
What it is most noted for, however, is that the entire system is protected by a sphere of weapons platforms. These platforms, an average of eighty thousand kilometres apart, form a veritable dispersed Dyson’s sphere around the Metalyka system. This sphere is about 400 000km thick, and extends an astonishing 6 AU from the system’s sun. The weapons platforms are of diverse designs. Most are small missile racks or station particle lazer batteries, but larger installations are not uncommon in the vastness. It is estimated that, from the given measurements, that there are roughly fifteen billion of these weapons platforms. A ship, passing the barrier, could be in range of over two thousand of these platforms at once. Indeed, the overall density of the platforms, combined with their own mass-net fields and displacer screens, actually prevents FTL transit through the net, as it registers as a diffuse mass-field to sensors.
The sheer magnitude of the defence screen is staggering. To be maintained, it requires a mind-bogglingly large array of maintenance ships, stations and replication and manufacturing facilities. In fact, simply to maintain this screen, well over 99% of the entire Cybertank infrastructure is believed to be dedicated to this task. By comparison, even the most massive fleets that attack the outside galaxy are dwarfed in comparison to the amount of firepower within. It is most frightening to realise, that, if they would merely choose to do so, that infrastructure could be re-dedicated to wiping us out; and there is very little we could do to stop it.
The pre-GTSR German segment made a serious investigation in around 2320 into actually invading Metalyka and ending this threat once and for all. Their plan was to force a breech in the perimeter at one of the “entrance points” where the field is least dense. Then, they would hold this gap long enough to send a task force in to do the job. However, they quickly came to the conclusion such an attempt would be futile. Studies indicated that the weapons platforms are capable of moving under their own power to cover any breech made. Further, they made the sobering revelation that the Cybertank’s current home defence fleet – which spends its time patrolling the inside of the sphere – is likely greater in number than the total number of starships built between the major (if not all) Earth powers since the construction of military starship began. Perhaps even by orders of magnitude.
This explains, perhaps in part, why the Cybertanks seem so content to send out fleet after fleet and lose them all. In reality, they are losing a negligible portion of the population’s military power.
We cannot fathom how long it took to develop this inordinately large defence system. To date, it has only been breached on seventeen occasions across the entire of our recorded Cybertank history, and all of those strikes were precision attacks directed at something very close to the border. It is sufficiently dangerous not even the most advanced powers dare cross it lightly.
The Cybertanks, then are an oddity; they meet the requirements to be classified as a major power, but the majority of their strength is concentrated in their own solar system. But they are not totally consigned to their system; a few outlying systems are under Cybertank control, though they fluctuate as the Incursions come and go. To date, the largest concentration of Cybertanks in a permanent facility outside Metalyka that we know of is the Beaconcommand station in the Guladdeem Nebulae, discovered around 2331 during their Incursion 25 campaign.
It is theorised that the Metalyka system once had much more than the six planets than it does now, but the others and any asteroid belts it might once have had were cannibalised to start the defence grid. Even so, the Cybertanks must have developed their current energy-to-matter replication long before it was finished.
Metalyka proper is the third planet in the system, and is approximately one AU from the primary. It falls into the category of an HPE-B planet. It is of typical size of that class and has an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere at approximately 1.05g. All of what we know of it comes from long-range scans. As yet, no-one in recorded history as actually landed on the planet, aside from the Cybertanks themselves. The entire land surface is covered by metal. In places where the Cybertanks have or have had habitation, there are cities of metal, or just a metal-panelled surface. Elsewhere, the surface is just smooth metal of varying sorts. The surface is mostly, but not totally, flat, with the occasional mountains range arising smoothly from the surface. The most common sort is a non-corrosive alloy, rendering the planet surface a pale matt silver.
In some places, there are what appear to be massive forests of tall poles. What purpose – if any – these serve is a mystery. They may be artificial; they may be some strange form of natural metallic growth or something else entirely.
The seas of Metalyka are not one you would wish to swim in. They consist almost entirely of mercury, tainted by contaminants and appear a darker grey than the land. There is virtually no water vapour in the atmosphere at all (and little to no cloud), making the surface like a desert.
No-one knows why Metalyka is not untenably hot. It is guessed that perhaps the metal surface reflects away a lot of the heat, but that by no means explains all. Some have suggested that the forests of poles are some sort of heat baffle, perhaps cooled by the strong winds caused by the planet’s relatively rapid rotation. (A day on Metalyka lasts only sixteen hours.)
There is no apparent volcanicity on the planet, nor any evidence of it, though what this means, no-one is sure. It does explain the surface, however, as the land, without plate movement, will steadily be sand-blasted by the winds and metal particles blown within it.
There are six huge cityscapes on the surface, large enough to be seen by the naked eye, and many more smaller ones. The largest, tentatively designated as Gamma Seven by the pre-GTSR German segment, may be the capital.
We know nothing of Cybertank society and culture or even if they exist. Do they have a civilian populace who are not combat vehicles? How do they reproduce? We don’t know. Until Incursion 25, we did not even know what their leadership was. We now only know that the mysterious Spectrum Omega Unity claims to be the Cybertank’s leader, but whether it has always been so or whether this is a new development is unclear.
Perhaps the most perplexing mystery, however, is that of the Cybertank’s origin. Of this we know nothing. The Cybertanks claim to have evolved naturally on Metalyka into their current state and all records we have managed to procure over the years give no other explanation.
Many detractors of this idea point out the numerous flaws in this belief, however. Pieces of evidence seem to suggest that the Cybertanks are instead an artificial race, created by some hitherto unknown power. Why would a lifeform evolve into something as recognisable as a grav-tank in the first place? And why would a supposedly alien race use Galactic English as its language?
This last is a particular mystery. In fact, for years, it was assumed that the Cybertanks were simply using a translator into what they thought was the dominant human language. But it was in the end revealed that the reason the Cybertanks always communicated in English was because they were speaking in Galactic English. This discovery was significantly delayed by the fact that Cybertank computer technology is run under a different language altogether. The Cybertanks thus have a ‘digital’ language they use when interfacing with their technology as opposed to communicating amongst themselves.
A great deal of evidence – including the structure and nature of Metalyka itself, apparently devoid of other life, supports the artificial constructs theory.
So it is greatly surprising, then, to find that there is evidence that equally contradicts this. The first and foremost is the massive difference between the technology the Cybertanks use and that in their own bodies. The two are as different as that between the technology of two alien races – or the difference between that of human biology and technology.
While Cybertank technology is advanced, it is mainly conventional in structure. Their own racial physiology is vastly different. Inside a Cybertank is a complex network of systems; technological, but as intricate in form and structure as the cellular structure of organics. It appears, internally, to be grown, not built. It is totally divergent with that of known technological races. Indeed, the only race with something even close to this kind of physiology are the naturally occurring metallic and techno-organic creatures found on Kethrain, the homeworld of the Shardan.
This Cybertank internal technology is also dissimilar to any other race’s technology, and lacks the signatures of extinct races, like the Harbingers.
So, was the life on the planet truly technological in nature, or were the Cybertanks modified at some point? Perhaps they modified themselves and removed all history of it. Many theories for both sides have been put forward, from the sublime to the ridiculous. From the proponents of the belief they are naturally-developed creatures who simply adopted English as a language (perhaps from early transmissions from Earth) to those that suggest the Cybertanks are in fact humans from the far future, who brought a solar system backwards in time, no-one can make a conclusive argument.
Even time-travel is unlikely to be able to help; the entire Metalyka system seems to be contained in a temporally-resistant field, the nature of which is elusive but that makes time travel extraordinarily dangerous. It may be natural, or created by the Cybertanks themselves – or perhaps their creators. Further, all investigation has shown that the system is time-locked and not in an area of mutable time, so even if one could journey safely into the past, it could be just as dangerous to arrive.
In the past couple of decades, the discovery of Harbinger Retrocasual Probability Engineering seems to provide the first and most promising possibility to some of the “whys” of the Cybertanks, if not the “hows.” It might explain their language, perhaps and, if they did indeed evolve as they claim, why into the forms they do. But it would be dangerous to simply chalk up the solution to a new theory, even if it is a most promising one. Even for Probability Engineering, the Cybertanks would be an unlikely outcome from the “spill-over” probabilities that create HPE worlds with near-humans[3]. They are seemingly too far away from the typical HPE paradigm and at the same time, have elements to close to be mere co-incidence. So even if they are resultant from HPE, they are either a unique anomaly or they were deliberately probability engineered to be what they are. Which merely raises even more questions.
Any answers are not likely to be forthcoming. As the Cybertanks themselves believe utterly in their own natural origin, the only possible answers may lie buried beneath the unreachable metal surface of Metalyka – if they exist at all.
Physiology
The Cybertanks are a purely technological race. Physically, their bodies are armoured fighting vehicles – the majority being grav-tanks. But they are not simply machines nor constructs, but true living beings. In many ways, the Cybertanks physically react like an organic creature, rather than a robotic construct. They are able to heal by themselves (rather than require repair, though they can be repaired as an analogue to medical treatment), though they require an outside supply of matter to do so.
As more thaumaturgically adept races discovered, negative energy kills Cybertanks and positive energy heals them just like any other living creature. Necromantically, their souls are only different to those of a humanoid in shape. Animating a Cybertank corpse is no more difficult for a necromancer than any organic creature’s body of the same size.
They have no particular resistance to psionics, and the vast majority of mind-control methods will work on them unless keyed to a specific type of biology. If one could mind control a dragon and a human, a Cybertank would pose no additional difficulty to control. Reading the thoughts of a Cybertank poses no particular barrier to a telepath, nor does reading recent, surface memories; but reading their long-term memories presents a wall no-one has yet bypassed.
Something about how the Cybertanks naturally store or archive their long-term memories seems to make them impossible to access, as if they are encrypted, but with a cipher totally unique to the individual Cybertank. Breaking said encryption might be possible, but the best projections suggest it would require years of work (or possibly a lifetime’s) by a telepath that also had a computer-like or digital brain (which narrows the field down to a limited number of individuals to start with), and would be essentially the same as trying to translate a new language – and even then would only work on a single Cybertank, who would have to be maintained alive. Thus one of the most obvious and simple methods of unpicking some of the Cybertank’s mysteries remains closed to all practical purposes.
Cybertanks are divided into a number of configurations, which seem to be something between species or perhaps breed and vehicle class. The most common are the Resistors (of which there are two main sub-configuration variants), whose form is a fairly conventional grav-tank. Because of their abundance, more is known about the Resistors than any other configurations. Notably, these configurations do not seem to have any social relevance (in what little anyone has observed of what passes for Cybertank “society”). While, at least in the element of ground combat, configurations are suited to specific roles, this is not always a given. Starship crews seem to have no such correlation, and one is as likely to find a Resistor as a Capacitor commanding a starship.
A general overview is presented here: a more detailed breakdown of individual configurations replaces what would be the ground vehicle section of the guide. (That is not a complete list, but represents the most prominent majority of encountered configurations.)
The Cybertanks typically have their brains in the turrets (or the front, for those configurations without a turret) and their power-core in the body. They usually have two large and visible “eyes” on the turret. These “eyes” are not just for sight, but serve also as the Cybertank’s receptors for sound, smell and other senses. As living beings, Cybertanks do not have any internal space equivalent to crew positions, having internal organs and systems instead. Thus a penetrating hit that punches through a Cybertank’s armour is much more likely to kill a Cybertank where a crewed vehicle might survive with serious damage.
The Cybertanks do not have manipulative limbs, but instead, the configurations have ball-socketed proximity-range tractor beam emitters (usually one at each corner of their hull, but some possess more). Their fine control is merely passable (it might be better were it not compounded by Cybertank ineptitude), and their strength, while considerable by human standards, is not in the superhuman range. They might be able to lift a weight such as a typical car, but not throw one. Still, they are capable of tossing around lighter objects (such as squishy hominoids) if they get too close. Their proficiency depends on the individual Cybertank; most are unskilled, but the occasional Cybertank shows a proficiency which seems to be on the level of a trained martial art.
Cybertank colour schemes tend to be unified (a medium blue with yellow and orange highlights) and two Cybertanks of the same configuration are perceptibly identical. Apparently even the Cybertanks themselves can’t tell the difference easily, as the Cybertank’s individual designation is displayed clearly, usually on the glacis. This is usually the only difference between one Cybertank and the next in a group of the same configuration.
The oddest feature of Cybertank physiology is that there are two standards – what appears to be their “natural” or at least “original” technology and their “created” or at least “constructed” technology.
Internally, their “natural” technological physiology – their brains and various “organs” – is as different from that found in their starships and structures (i.e. their constructed technology) as a typical organic’s biology is from their technology. This “natural” technology is highly complex, and seems more “grown” than “built”. The layout is more reminiscent of biology (with all its inefficiencies) than created technology. This “natural” technology is supplemented – or perhaps “replaced” in what is (ironically) akin to cybernetics in an organic, by their “constructed” technology. The “constructed” technology has evolved and improved over time with the Cybertank’s technological advancements, but the “natural” technology has remained the same as when the Cybertanks were first encountered.
There are further mysteries. For example, the Cybertank’s particle laser technology found on board their starships seems derived from their own bodily weapons, but are subtly different in a way that a conventional tank and shipboard weapon are not; they are not quite simply different sized versions of each other. While the output is the same, the internal design of an Assimilator’s particle laser battery is entirely different in the way it is designed and put together than the one in say, the turret of a Resistor II. While the individual components are clearly recognisable to the technical, they are totally different in approaches, as different as those of two disparate races separately developing convergent technologies.
“Constructed” technology appears to be in the majority more efficient (at least in the modern era), but clearly however Cybertanks reproduce is in such a fashion that “constructed” additions can only be made after the fact.
Given the complete mystery around the Cybertanks, and the tiniest fraction of them that the outside galaxy sees, it is entirely possible that there are entirely “constructed” Cybertanks akin to androids or robot for organics. It could be that the Cybertanks encountered outside their system are “old” designs, perhaps sent out to die for their cause, though there is little evidence to suggest this.
This all lends credence to the Cybertank’s claim they evolved into these vehicular forms naturally. Despite the extreme improbability of these claims, no-one has yet found any evidence to conclusively disprove them.
The Cybertanks communicate amongst themselves vocally. (This explains, at least, why their starships retain an atmosphere.) As noted in the Admiral’s overview, this has always been in Galactic English. Long-range communication is a “constructed,” albeit a nearly ubiquitous, technology. The Cybertanks can interface with their “constructed” technology via their communicator “implants” (for want of a more accurate word), but do so using a totally different computer language. The best guess is that this is a “constructed” language, one used for passing all data; for example, for reading displays.
Cybertanks do not respire, nor do they strictly eat nor excrete, though they require recharging in lieu of food and need to enter a dormant, sleep-like state. Most Cybertanks seem to prefer to combine the two, and recharge while otherwise inactive, but this does not appear to be necessary. Physiologically, the dormant period seems to be only strictly required for perhaps only 5% of their active time, which is much shorter than the time they usually have to spend to recharge. Cybertanks recharge in special sockets or cradles, though they appear to be able to wirelessly charge at a slower rate if one is not available. Exactly how they recharged before they developed such “constructed” technology remains a mystery that would likely require an exploration of Metalyka’s surface to solve.
They also periodically need to intake physical matter, simply to replace that lost via normal function or to repair damage. This is infrequent, and depends on how much matter a Cybertank needs. A damaged Cybertank will require a significant influx, while one that is only replacing the minimal losses (i.e. wear and tear on its internal “organs” and systems) might only need to do it once a month. The Cybertanks have one or more special compartments which they can open and use their tractor beam to put material into. This varies in position and size and shape (and number) from configuration to configuration. On the Resistors, this compartment is covered by an oval hatch and is located on the top of the turret (right on the Resistor I and left on the Resistor II). These compartments are “natural” technology.
Material that is placed inside this compartment is then broken down and reconfigured at an atomic level suitable for their use. The Cybertanks require metal for the majority, though they require a limited amount of organic chemistry as well. This process is highly inefficient, however. A Cybertank has to “eat” a significant amount of material (and requires a lot of additional energy and thus frequent or constant recharging) in order to convert matter, and the less suitable the material is, the worst this inefficiency becomes.
Instead, they prefer to be able to ingest what they call “repair fuel.” This is a manufactured substance, a thick, glutinous substance that is essentially particulate metal slurry in a substrate. The components make it a dull grey colour with flecks of larger chucks of metals that can catch the light. The Cybertanks take this in by means of one of several hose-like probes they can extend from various small ports. Cybertank recharging cradles are all fitted with a number of ports from which the Cybertank can connect one or more of these probes to.
Of note is that the probes are also “natural” technology, which suggests that some form of “repair fuel” exists “naturally.” Some proponents of the evolved Cybertanks theory suggest that the proto-Cybertanks may have been some sort of predator that drew such from their prey, but it is equally likely that they can draw some benefit from naturally occurring liquids found on Metalyka like the mercury seas.
It should be noted in passing with their computer-like minds, energy weapons and advanced targeting systems, the accuracy of the Cybertanks is legendary. Legendary in that no other race has a deserved reputation for missing so badly or so often. This is due to what appears to be a purely psychological flaw in the Cybertank’s mental make-up. Without a Cybertank consciousness behind it, their targeting systems are perfectly functional. It is perhaps unfortunate that the larger targeting computers of their starships do actually manage to mitigate their gunner’s own apparent utter incompetence. But on the ground, it is often said – only half in jest – that the safest place to be when a Cybertank is shooting is often the spot they are aiming at.
Military Technology
The Cybertank technology base is best described as “wide but somewhat shallow.” In some areas, their technology is advanced beyond the galactic standard (notably their warhead technologies), but in others, it is no more advanced than the average. The majority of Cybertank technology encountered is generally conventional. They utilise standard hyperdrive, engine, standard sensor, communication and shielding technology, comparable to the galactic standard.
The Cybertanks also possess some rarer and more esoteric technologies, including cloaking devices and footprint magnification systems (FMS). However, despite the advancement of these systems, they are used infrequently. This gives the Cybertanks an advantage in that in the occasions when they are deployed, they retain a level of surprise and effectiveness that would be degraded by frequent usage. The Displacer Screen is the only exception to this general rule; all Cybertank vessels large enough to accommodate one carry it.
The most notable area where the Cybertanks are advanced beyond most powers is in structural technology, as evidenced by the use of some of the manufacturing facilities, and the widely-feared ten-mile long Effluvium class supercruiser. The existence of their defence network and such constructions long suggested that the Cybertanks had some limited energy-to-matter replication. This was finally proven, though it has been determined that their technology does not afford them to utterly ignore local resources.
Weapons technology is primarily based on particle lasers, which fire blasts of photonic energy (typically emitting light in the orange visible spectrum) with dense micro-particles suspended within. The effect is somewhere between that of an energy lazer and a particle accelerator weapon. This weaponry is also found in the Cybertanks themselves, and it would appear that the ship-borne weaponry was developed from their internal weapons and not the other way around.
In addition to conventional particle laser weapon arrays, at starship level, the Cybertanks have emplacements that fire highly coherent and mobile particle laser beams, capable of slicing ships apart.
The Cybertanks also make heavy use of Matter-flux Torpedoes. These weapons upon impact, set up a resonating field that puts the electron bonds of matter into a state of flux, with highly destructive results. They typically use more conventional anti-matter weapons in their advanced missile technology. Matter-flux missiles have been used on the starship scale only occasionally, though many contemporary Cybertank missile-armed configurations themselves use Matter-flux warheads; the technology appears to scale to vehicular level more easily than anti-matter.
Cybertank point- and interdiction-defence systems have traditionally relied on omni-directional arrays. Their modern PD systems have an engagement sphere of 2.14Ym³ (yottametres), with their interdiction-range systems reaching a volume of 17.15Ym³, both having a typical output of around 700 teraxyllaqens, comparable in range and power to those used by the Aotrs. Despite this, however, the Cybertanks’ doctrine of placing only minimal PD emplacements on most starships and relying on dedicated defence ships makes them somewhat vulnerable to massed missile fire.
Though they have “natural” technology railguns on some configurations, the Cybertanks appear never to have developed “constructed” technology railguns for their starships, preferring to rely on particle lasers, missiles and torpedoes.
Cybertank starship technology is all completely modular. This means a Cybertank fleet can, if close to a repair and supply ship like a Colloidal, completely repair and change its entire weapon load in a short period of time. Most starships have a base design, which requires more extensive (i.e. shipyard) modifications to alter and a customisable payload. The payload is not solely weapons, but often cloaks, additional armour or shielding or sensors. (This flexibility affords the Cybertanks cloak and FMS system’s rare use most effective, since an enemy fleet can never be entirely sure a Cybertank fleet is what it appears to be just occasionally enough to be dangerous.)
Cybertank ship configurations are typically specialised for one job, and poor at others. Most notably, most Cybertank ships have poor point-defence and rely on anti-fighter variants to provide them with protection.
This modularity is as old as the earliest encounters with the Cybertanks. Thus, the Cybertanks have always used relatively few hull classes, and these are simply upgraded as their technology has improved.
The ships are so well-suited for this purpose, and the Cybertank’s activity over the centuries has provided so many wreckages to study that the designs have been retro-engineered by more than one race and power.
Most famously, the familiar General Designs Hull’s Delta-series starships on the open market sprung almost entirely from the retro-engineering of the Assimilator Heavy Cruiser (and to a lesser extent, Amplitude Dreadnought) starships. Aside from their near-clones in the ubiquitous Delta heavy cruiser and Delta dreadnought, the principles were applied to new hulls that formed the rest of the range and even to side-applications like the Beta-series hulls that use the same principles, but are entirely GDH design. GDH were not the only company – nor power – to do this, but for among the human powers, the Herosine-owned GDH were the first and most successful and their position as market leader in open-market starship hulls cemented their position. It is not an understatement to say that the Cybertanks have indirectly been the cause of significant funding to one of the most corrupt human powers in history.
While the majority of the hull of the Cybertank fleet remain largely static, sometimes a hull will fall out of favour or a new one be created. Sometimes, after decades or longer, an old hull will suddenly start to be seen again, as is the case with the Amplitude in recent years. The Electrolyte and Assimilator hulls have been the most consistently present in the Cybertank’s observed history, the former dating back to the Royal Elven Kingdoms’ first contact.
Displacer Screens
The Cybertanks have developed cloaking and footprint magnification to a high level. These technologies lead to one of their defining (and unique) technologies, the Displacer Screen. The Displacer Screen literally takes all the emissions (and therefore readings) from the vessel and shunts it to a different spot, usually no more than one or two ship lengths or widths away. (Over much further distance than that that, the system would break down.) The location on the image relative to the ship is constantly in motion, further confused by the ship’s manoeuvring. Because this is a comparatively minor shift, it is just enough to blur sensor technology, making it somewhat harder to hit. As the technology has existed for centuries, most modern targeting systems can compensate somewhat, but their accuracy can be degraded by as much as 13-16%.
This can result in the strange sight at visual ranges, of a shot that will pass right through an apparent ship. Or when a shot does land, the attack will strike and stop in apparently empty space and the resultant explosion will happen hundreds of meters away.
Fortunately, the Displacer’s power requirements are sufficiently high that smaller vessels simply cannot power them, though the Displacer emplacements are surprisingly compact in themselves.
Numerous efforts have been made to replicate Displacer technology, as Cybertank wreckage is not exactly uncommon. All have resulted in catastrophic failure. The very action of displacing the emissions wreaks havoc with both conventional starship systems and with the minds of the crews (both organic and technological).
Humans subjected to the effect report instant and debilitating loss of vestibular and kinaesthetic senses and an intense feeling of being detached from their bodies. They quickly lose consciousness and die within minutes due to massive organ failures. It is not understood how or why, but it is theorised that the displacing effect means that the brain’s chemical receptors simply cannot receive any input. Nerve impulses can be sent out and those coming in physically reach the brain, but the brain doesn’t receive the input, as if the input has been displaced. How this can work in defiance of conventional cause-and-effect logic is unknown.
The effect on computer systems (especially navigation and sensor systems) is similar, with the aforementioned systems failing immediately, and computer systems crashing within moments. Any sensors (be they as primitive as digital cameras and microphones) receive input, but cannot process it. Analogue systems appear to be unaffected.
How the Cybertanks deal with these issues is a mystery. Nothing obvious in their engineering seems to preclude the effect. Even stranger, in the rare occasions a Cybertank ship is boarded while functioning, the effect does not seem to be present. In the handful of occasions that a Cybertank ship has been captured intact, the Displacer seems to function without issue.
At least one attempt by a particularly driven Herosine businessman essentially cloned an Assimilator from a captured vessel, as exact as could be managed, copying the alloys and internal structure as perfectly as could be managed (and thus making a ship only suitable for Cybertank use), but even this failed.
The effect is thus theorised to be some sort of non-physical phenomena. The Cybertanks do use – to our knowledge – neither magic nor psionics[4], nor is there any detectable emanations from their vessels of either. So whatever the effect is, it is more esoteric and likely arrived at by chance. It is known that paranatural phenomena can be created via ritual methods, so it seems possible that (likely unknowingly) something in the procedure or the techniques by which the Cybertanks build their vessel has some sort of ritual-like properties in the process. But the truth is no-one really knows.
The only powers advanced enough to be likely able to replicate the technology are sufficiently advanced that they don’t need to, having technologies which exceed the effect of the Displacer has on starship survivability via various other means, many of which are more conventional.
Beacondrives
The Beacondrive is a new development for the Cybertanks, first seen in the events leading up to Incursion 25. This system was never seen or hinted at in any prior Cybertank operations and came as a complete surprise.
How the system functions is still unknown, due to the nature of its deployment. The Beacondrive systems works by sending a single vessel under cloak to a target point. A portal is then opened from a fixed base to that vessel’s location (the vessel serving, as its name suggests, as a beacon), allowing a Cybertank fleet to transit almost instantaneously to that location once the portal is opened. These Beaconships need to maintain a connection to keep the portal open and disrupting or destroying them will close it.
Due to the assistance of Shardan Marauders, it has been determined that the Beaconships appear to be typically Mobius-class vessels. Without the advanced sensors of one of the galaxies’ most advanced powers, however, locating a Beaconship while it remains cloaked is a very difficult task, as whatever means is used to send the signal does not appear to interfere with the cloaking system.
The Cybertanks do not appear to have many facilities to open the portal from – it is believed that there may only be one, at the Beaconcommand station in the Guladdeem Nebula. There is some suggestion they may be one in Metalyka itself, but this remains largely supposition.
The Beacondrive system means that the Cybertanks can deploy System Defence versions of the starships – vessels which are configured to remove the hyperdrive for additional payload – though as typically there is only one System Defence configuration for each ship class, most of the vessels used during Incursion 25 were regular configurations. A few, however, were previously unknown configurations “beaconwarships,” apparently specifically designed to work with the Beacondrive system. Like the previously known System Defence configurations, the Beaconwarships lacked a hyperdrive, using the mass and power for additional weapons systems. The Electrolyte Beaconwarship was the most common of these new configurations.
As the Beacondrive is potentially a galaxy-changing technology, many efforts were expended to just to scan an active portal and to try and capture a Beaconship to analyse the technology. Due to the difficulty of locating a Beaconship, no attempts to date have been successful. In the latter case, only the Shardan succeeded in even finding one under cloak, and they were forced to destroy it in order to close its portal. In the former case, by the time a vessel could detect an open portal, short of Shardan-level sensors, the portal was either closed or too many Cybertank ships were arriving before a vessel could get close enough to get a detailed scan.
However, as if sensing that overuse of this technology raised the risk of such a capture being made eventually, the Cybertanks do not appear to have used the Beacondrive since Incursion 25.
There is strong evidence that the Beacondrive is the brainchild of a single Cybertank and that it is an experimental technology that might not be suited for long-term use and especially not without said Cybertank’s overview. It is possible, but unlikely, that that one Cybertank may have engaged in the battle for Earth and been destroyed, but in the absence of hard evidence, it is expected the Cybertanks will add the Beacondrive to their bag of tricks to be brought out when it can do most damage.
Designations
Cybertanks designations – both for individuals and vessels – consistently are comprised a colour, a shape and a number. These designations (they don’t call them “names”) are often apparently recycled on the destruction of the original bearer: “Silver Triangle I” has been a very common designation seen on Assimilators over the centuries, for example. Both ground units of the same configuration in a given army and starships of the same class in a given fleet tend to have sequentially numbered designations.
As with most things beneath the surface of the Cybertanks, it is unclear what the significance is. Given the sheer number of Cybertanks that exist, it seems impossible that this would be sufficient to individualise a Cybertank. It is conceivable that these are truly not “names” at all, but are assigned to a Cybertank or ship when it leaves for the outside galaxy. Though if so, a Cybertank’s true name must be erased from all but long-term memory, since the rare occasions a telepath has been in position to ask, one has never been revealed.
Further complicating the issue is the mysterious Spectrum Omega Unity, whose designation does not match the previously known pattern.
Spectrum Omega Unity
Spectrum Omega Unity claims to be the Cybertank’s overall leader. It first revealed itself during the events surrounding Incursion 25 when it made direct transmissions to a Shardan Marauder vessel. The vessel, Koori class Talax Strikedreadnought Kelardra, was conducting reconnaissance on the Guladdeem Nebula to aid the human powers. It apparently chose to reveal itself to gloat, in booming cadence, about how the Kelardra would be destroyed. Though the Kelardra was severely out-numbered and engaged by an elite Assimilator squadron, it escaped with only minor damage and went on to report the presence of the Beaconcommand station.
Intercepted transmissions indicated that, at the very least, this Spectrum Omega Unity was directing Incursion 25 and did so with strategic adroitness atypical for Cybertanks.
The transmissions were purely auditory, so exactly what configuration Spectrum Omega Unity is remains unknown. Acoustic analysis of the transmissions and of the echoes seems to suggest Spectrum Omega Unity could be a Cybertank of proportions hitherto unknown, possibly even to large smallcraft size. (Though it also could have just been socketed in a structure of that size in some sort of hangar.)
Whether Spectrum Omega Unity is newly come to power, or whether it has finally just chosen to reveal itself at last remains unknown.
Ships of the Cybertank Fleet
(Editor’s Note: measurements are taken from bounding box extremities and are approximate, as the majority of existent Cybertank starships do not have a digital model.)
Cybertank internal classification does not use typical naval hull classifications (e.g. cruiser, destroyer) for their own vessels. Instead, because of the long-standing existence of most hulls, the class of the hull itself serves as their hull classification. Thus while “Assimilator Heavy Cruiser” is used externally to refer to those ships, internally, the Cybertanks refer to ships only by class and configuration (e.g. “Assimilator Warship”). The standard naval hull classifications in the following descriptions are used, however, as an illustrative guide to each class’s approximate size and function.
Assimilator Heavy Cruiser
Length 430m Width 250m Height 110m The Assimilator is archetypal in more ways than one. A mainstay of the Cybertank fleet, almost every Cybertank fleet encountered has a number of Assimilators. So prevalent are the Assimilators that the design has been retro-engineered by numerous powers; most famously by General Designs Hulls in the Herosine Empire but Assimilator clones have proliferated across the galaxy. The Assimilator and its non-Cybertank counterparts in many ways are the definitive heavy cruisers, being the defining standard that variants are measured to: an acceleration of 10.67 millilights, exactly 120 MEUs manoeuvrability, and shields of 1200 teraxyllaqens. Only the Assimilator’s armour is slightly under the typical Armour Integrity Capacity of heavy cruisers (around 1000 TXq) at only 880 TXq, owing to the mass of the Displacer Screen.
The Cybertank Assimilators have been continuously updated as Cybertank technology has advanced, though the basic hull has remained the same for centuries. The Assimilator has the most standard configurations of any of the other Cybertank ships and every so often a new one (or a revised one) will appear.
The base Assimilator has typical sensor and communication systems and the defining average manoeuvrability, shields and armour for heavy cruiser. It mounts a single standard Cybertank omnidirectional particle laser point defence array. This is a short triangular prism with tapering ends that is capable of firing a barrage of beams. This is supplemented by a small number of standard particle laser beams on other parts of the hull. These create a net output of 700 TXq, but this makes the base Assimilator dramatically under-protected. Two fixed-forward particle laser cannons with a combined output of 760 teraxyllaqens provide anti-starship fire. All the other configurations build on this basis, usually by addition (but with an occasional substitution).
The two most common configurations are the Warship and Antifighter configurations.
The Assimilator Warship is, as its name suggests, a straight forward combat starship. Multiple Particle laser batteries cover all arcs with a combined output of 650TXq, almost equalling the firepower of the forward cannons. A pair of Cybertank standard missile racks in the nose provide some long-range firepower. Each consists of four tubes with a total of 32 anti-matter missiles of 225TXq yield). They are usually seen in groups of two or three with an Assimilator Antifighter as escort.
The Assimilator Antifighter fills out its payload with nothing but interdiction-range anti-fighter weapons systems of a combined output of 2900TXq. They act as escorts, almost always to Assimilators of other configurations. Even so, the Cybertank’s reliance on both long-range weapons and interdiction defence over point defences makes them vulnerable to concerted attack by missiles or smallcraft, despite the advancement of their systems.
Other Assimilator configurations include the Torpedocruiser (fore-and-rear Matter-flux torpedo tubes), the Missilecruiser (heavy anti-starship missiles), Munitions (a mix of missiles and torpedoes), the Needlecruiser (which carries a short-range particle laser “needle beam” for targeting individual enemy ship components), Reconnaissance (expanded sensor arrays), Electronic Warfare (ECM array and additional sensors), Stealth Assault (cloak), Precision Assault (multiple “needle” particle laser arrays and additional firecontrol suites), Tractorcruiser (multiple tractor beam arrays) and System Defence (which removes the hyperdrive for an expanded payload of particle laser cannons).
Amplitude Dreadnought
Length 1000.0m Width 520.0m Height 182.0m Until 2343, the Amplitude has not been seen in over a century. It has been encountered by the Royal Elven Navy first in 2025, when it was the largest Cybertank vessel yet encountered. But for reasons never understood, it was never a common sight in a Cybertank fleet. The Toroidal remained the Cybertank’s principle (and often only) capital ship. The Amplitude, after the first century or so seemed to see less and less use. By the time the human powers had entered the scene, it was usually only ever seen acting as an escort to Cybertank supercruisers, notably the Colloidals or on a handful of occasions as escort to a particularly large support fleet. The last recorded encounter was by the Zirakthargûm Consortium in 2231 as part of a large incursion fleet that the Consortium and the Royal Elven Kingdoms jointly defeated. After that, it seemed to disappear (like several Cybertank hull designs before it).
Then in mid-2343, an Amplitude appeared in a Cybertank attack on Sendran system, escorting the fleet’s smaller Toroidal. This Amplitude appeared to be an updated version of the old War Escort configuration with modern weapons. Since then, Amplitudes have seen something of resurgence.
Why the Amplitude has never seemed favoured over the Toroidal remains yet one more Cybertank enigma. The Amplitude shares a lot of similarities with the Assimilator, and like that vessel, it served as an almost one-for-one basis for the GDH Delta Dreadnought, thanks to its extreme modularity. On a technical level, it appears a superior base hull than the Toroidal, mounting twice as much shielding (4200TXq) for the same manoeuvrability of 92 MEUs. The Amplitude has always had slightly less of the standard configurable payload (the modern version having about 88% of the modern Toroidal), but when one takes into account the fixed weapons as well, it carries about 3% more total weapons than the Toroidal.
Like the smaller Assimilator it resembles, the Amplitude base configuration has two forward-firing heavy particle laser cannons. The Amplitude’s are placed differently, however, being spinally mounted on the middle superstructure. These weapons are rated at a combined 980XTq. Historical Amplitudes mounted three smaller emplacements in the same spot, but the modern ones only use the port and starboard housings. The Amplitude unusually carries a number of point-defence installations as part of its basic configuration, with a combined output of 1400 TXq.
Only three modern configurations have been sighted. The most common is the War Escort, which is a hybrid of the other two, Antifighter and Warship configurations.
The Antifighter configuration has an ECM system and a staggering range of point- and interdiction defence installations of 13500 TXq combined output within the PD’s engagement sphere. But as is common with most Cybertank Antifighter configurations, it has no anti-capital ship weapons aside from the fixed guns.
The Warship configuration (thus far the least frequently encountered) supplements the main guns with four additional batteries which cover every aspect, and have a combined output of 1680TXq. It adds an addition PD array, bringing the total output to 2800TXq and a PCM (point-counter-measure) system. Finally, it mounts a quartet of missile racks – like the Assimilator, standard racks of four tubes containing 32 225TXq warheads. These are not located in the nose in the Amplitude, but instead in the lower superstructure mount.
The War Escort carries an ECM system like the Antifighter, but sacrifices some of the PD and ID systems for two 840TXq particle laser batteries, giving it some anti-ship capability.
Binary Corvette
Length 190m Width 110m Height 40m The Binary is among the most numerous of Cybertank ships encountered, and like the Assimilator, it has been seen in nearly every Cybertank fleet since the Royal Elven Navy first encountered one in 1984. The base Binary is a fairly typical corvette or light frigate, with 190 TXq shielding and with 155 MEUs manoeuvrability and an acceleration of 13.4mc. It is too small to fit a Displacer Screen (or at least one has never been spotted using one). The basic Binary Warship configuration carries a powerful 650 TXq particle laser battery and a standard 225TXq anti-matter missile rack, but has not even basic point-defence. It is totally reliant on the dubious protection of any accompanying Binary Antifighters, which themselves merely swap the missile rack for some 700TXq-rated point-defence arrays.
The Binaries are thus very vulnerable to fighter or heavy missile attack, but the apparently “disposable” nature of the Cybertank philosophy doesn’t appear to see this as a problem. The Binary is a minimal threat on its own, but deployed in groups of four to six or seven, it can bring significant firepower to bear on capital ships.
The Binary has a wide range of configurations (almost as many as the Assimilator), some generalist, and some for more specialised purposes. In the former category are configurations like the Strike (which downgrades the particle lasers for a second missile rack), the Stealth Assault (cloaked, but with only particle lasers) and Torpedoship (armed with a pair of forward/rear torpedo tubes).
The Probe configuration is one of the least encountered due to its purpose. Unarmed, but carrying a cloak and enhanced sensor array, it performs deep reconnaissance. Both the propensity of the Cybertanks to simply attack without scouting and the difficulty of location one when they are actually deployed account for its rarity.
The Binary System Defence removes the hyperdrive from the Warship configuration to mount a second missile rack. Until Incursion 25, it was the only non-FTL capable Binary encountered. The Beacondrive brought with it two new configurations – the Beaconwarship and Beaconbeamship. The Beaconwarship replaced the hyperdrive with the Antifighter’s PD system. The Beaconbeamship is outfitted much the same, but replaces the Binary’s entire standard payload with a 1450 TXq heavy particle laser beam, marking the first time a Binary has been spotted with a heavy beam.
The Binary Weaselboat is the primary Cybertank vessel that uses footprint magnification systems, enabling it to appear as a larger vessel both visually and to scans. It doubles the base Binary’s shields to 380 TXq and has twice the amount of point-defence of the Antifighter Binary, but no other weapons. It exists as a large-scale decoy, attracting fire away from other Cybertank ships – at least until the lack of return fire or damage renders the system irrelevant. While in theory more effective on the strategic level, the Cybertank’s typical strategy of heedless attacks means that the Weaselboat frequently not best utilised. Nevertheless, that is exists at all is a concern that must be taken into account – since it only takes one competent Cybertank commander to be able to pull some nasty tricks of misdirection.
Colloidal Supercruiser
Length 1800m Width 850m Height 560m The Colloidal is the largest Cybertank ship commonly seen. Until the appearance of the Effluvium class, vessels larger than the Colloidal seemed to be either unique or so rare as to only be encountered the once.
Over a mile long and massively bulky, the Colloidal is slow and cumbersome, at only 20 MEUs and with an acceleration of only 2.3mc. 7800TXq shields protect the armour, itself with an AIC of 5200 TXq. Despite its size, with one exception, all of the Colloidal’s configurations lend it more to a hybrid support role, rather than a full combat warship.
The Colloidal is dominated by the massive hangar/repair bay in the forward hull which masses roughly 25% of the hull. Capable of holding a cruiser as large as a Pyramid inside it, the Colloidal acts as a mobile shipyard, enabling a Cybertank fleet to repair – and reconfigure – on the fly. It is most often seen as part of a reserve fleet when deployed.
The configurable payload is comparatively small, as the Colloidal mounts a large number of fixed weapons. Port-and-starboard pairs of particle laser cannons are rated at a combined 1250TXq, with an accuracy envelope of around half a million kilometres. These are largest conventional beams the Cybertanks can build, elsewhere found only on the Pyramid and Mobius Warship. The fixed mounts are backed up by 2080 TXq of large particle laser batteries with the same range. The Colloidal mounts ECM and point-defence arrays rated to 5600TXq as standard.
The Warship configuration enhances these weapons with additional particle laser batteries, bringing the total to a combined 3120TXq. It also adds two 2200TXq-heavy particle laser beam arrays, six standard Cybertank missile racks and a pair of three-salvo forward-and-rear torpedo tubes with 240 800TXq-yield torpedoes. The defence are bolstered by a further 2900TXq of interdiction-defence weapons.
Seen probably the most regularly of the configurations, the Fleet Support configuration uses most of the payload space for cargo and a massive array of tractor beams, with only a single additional PD array. This version is never seen outside of a reserve fleet.
The Fleet Command configuration leads very large Cybertank fleets as the command ship. Retaining only the missile racks of the Warship configuration, the rest of the Fleet Command’s payload is dedicated to massive sensor and communication arrays to better direct fleet operations.
The most dreaded configuration of the Colloidal is the Colloidal Assassinship. It alone is the only configuration not to sport a repair bay, instead using the space to mount a pair of massive torpedo tubes, each firing a sextuplet of enormous 3000TXq-yield torpedoes. Like the Warship, it has two heavy particle laser beam arrays. It has two-thirds more shields than the regular Colloidal, up to a round 13000TXq, and twelve missile racks. A veritable plethora of PD and ID systems with a combined total of 10600TXq output complete its armament.
However, why it is most roundly feared is that it also mounts both a footprint magnification system and a cloak. This means that, aside from cloaking, it can also disguise itself as a smaller vessel by using the footprint magnification system in concert with the cloak. As its name suggests, the Assassinship is deployed – sometime alone – to hunt down and destroy a particular target. Fortunately, the Cybertanks rarely prioritise killing a particular target over potential mass devastation, and encounters with Assassinships are thus quite rare.
Cyclotron Orbital Bombardment
Length 420m Width 160m Height 90m The Cyclotron is an offshoot of the Electrolyte. Visually, the two are identical, typically only the Cyclotron’s altered colour scheme differentiating it. Only two configurations are known, and both focussed on orbital bombardment, which is the vessel’s primary role. Both configurations are centred around a massive 9140 TXq planetary beam cannon, capable of devastating a planet’s surface. Unlike most powers, the Cybertanks are all too eager to deploy such weapons and the Cyclotron is not a rare sight amongst their fleets, to the concern of all.
Analysis indicates the planetary beam is not actually a fixed weapon, but strictly part of a payload increased from the Electrolyte. Comparing sensor records over time, it appears the first Cyclotrons were a configuration of the Electrolytes. To fit in the extra space, the Electrolyte’s shielding and armour had to be halved to 800TXq and an AIC of 400TXq. The engines had to be downgraded as well, so the Cyclotron can only manage an adequate 9.5mc and 109 MEUs. This was such a significant change that it appears the Cybertanks made the Cyclotron a sort of permanent sub-configuration of the Electrolyte. Over time, the two have diverged slightly more in internal structure.
The Orbital Bombardment configuration is the predominant of the two. The last bit of payload not taken up with the planetary beam is used to mount a small number of point-defence weapons. This is almost desultory, since the Cyclotron is neither very agile not well-protected. Given the long recharge time and poor accuracy of the planetary beam against a mobile target (compounded by Cybertank shooting), once fired, the Cyclotron is easy prey for even light ships if not protected.
The second configuration, only seen a handful of times, is the Stealth Assault version. Most Stealth Assault configurations sacrifice weapons load in order to fit the cloak, but the Cyclotron uniquely does not. Instead, it removes all of the vessel’s limited armour and halves the shield power again and even removes the Displacer Screen to put the cloak in its place. As such, when uncloaked the Cyclotron is extremely vulnerable to attack by almost any force of even limited strength. However, given how happy the Cybertanks are to make strategically suicidal attacks, it is fortunate that Stealth Assault Cyclotrons appears to not be highly favoured, as the devastation one could cause in a suicide attack on an unsuspecting planet is horrific.
Effluvium Supercruiser
Length 16000m* Width 9000m* Height 550m* *Approximate
The terrifying Effluvium has only been seen a handful of times and only in the past quarter century. A massive, ten-mile long monstrosity, it is capable of fighting entire fleets at once. Its PD weaponry alone is capable of destroying most regular capital ships. It appears in essence, as an Assimilator scaled-up to massive size.
Only one configuration of the Effluvium, the Warship has been seen. It carries two enormous mega-particle beam cannons in forward mount, like the smaller Assimilator. These gigantic weapons are rated at 12540TXq each. A hundred and twenty missile racks and hundreds of the largest particle beam arrays (both anti-starship and anti-fighter) dot the surface. It carries no less than twenty of the massive 3000TXq-yield torpedo tubes so feared on the Colloidal Assassinship.
It is fortunate that these vessels have only been seen in fleets large enough to warrant the full attention of the galaxy’s most advanced powers, since even one would pose a massive threat to a conventional power by sheer concentration of force.
Electrolyte Heavy Destroyer
Length 420m Width 160m Height 90m A hull design as old as the Cybertank’s first encounter, the Electrolyte is almost as common as the Assimilator and has gone through many upgrades to the base design. The modern Electrolyte boasts greater agility than most vessels its size, capable of an acceleration of 14.4 millilights and 158 MEUs, with solid 800TXq-rated shields. Combined with its Displacer Screen, the Electrolyte makes for a difficult target to strike, and this gives it a great deal of survivability, both when directly engaged and because it makes other vessels easier targets.
While it has no fixed weapon emplacements, the Electrolyte’s weapons payload is equal to the Assimilator’s. The Warship configuration mounts a 325TXq particle laser battery and a pair of standard 225TXqw-missile racks and two point-defence arrays totalling 1400 TXq. It shores up the base configuration’s shields by another 20%. The Warship doesn’t have much of a knock-out punch, but with its survivability, it aims to win a war of attrition.
Another regularly encountered configuration is the Antifighter configuration. This uses all its payload with interdiction-range particle laser defence arrays, mounting up to 2900TXq in output. The Antifighter is the most common escort vessel in the Cybertank fleet, supporting not just other Electrolytes, but other vessels as well.
The Torpedoship, another common configuration, carries a single four-salvo fore-and-rear torpedo tube for 800KTq torpedoes and a couple of point-defence arrays that provide 1400TXq output. The Beamship configuration replaces the torpedo tube with a single 2200TXq-heavy particle laser beam array.
The Reconnaissance and Patrol configurations are very similar, swapping the warship’s extra shields and missile racks for enhanced sensor and communications arrays and a point-counter-measures (PCM) array. The Reconnaissance’s array is four times the strength of the basic Cybertank systems, which necessitates dropping the PD systems down to 700TXq. The Patrol carries an array only twice the power of the standard, and uses the mass and volume left to retain one missile rack from the Warship’s pair.
The Stealth Assault version carries a single 325TXq particle laser battery and point-defence array rating 1400TXq in addition to its cloaking device.
The Beaconwarship appeared during Incursion 25. Lacking a hyperdrive, it adds a second 325TXq particle laser battery, making it arguably the most dangerous Electrolyte configuration – provided one cannot flee to FTL.
Maintenance Dreadnought
Length 780m Width 520m Height 110m The Maintenance is the Cybertank’s only carrier vessel, and even then only in some of its configurations. The slow and lumbering Maintenance is optimised more towards the supporting role, rather than as a combat warship. It has nearly twice the Toroidal’s shields at 3800TXq and twice the armour (AIC of 2000TXq), but is so slow at 1.6mc acceleration and 16 MEUs its protection only compensates for the weakness. The base configuration mounts only a limited number of point-defence systems (output of 1400TXq) as fixed weaponry.
The Fighter Carrier is the closest Maintenance configuration to the “warship” used by most other classes. It carries two hangar bays for carrying two squadrons of twelve Thermal Inversion fighters. Two 325TXq-particle laser batteries give it some very limited offense , thought it carries no additional defence, instead using nearly 10% of its mass for cargo space for itself, its fighters and the accompanying fleet. The Maintenance Transport is very similar, except it decreases the size of the hangars by 16% to make addition room for more stowage space. It usually carries defence drones instead of fighters. These are light weapons platforms with limited (25TXq) shields and only two 21.42TXq particle lasers and poor agility and acceleration of 245MEU and 30.1mc.
The Maintenance Stealth Assault removes the Fighter Carrier’s holds and downgrades one of the particle laser batteries to 215TXQ to make room for the cloak.
The Support configuration is the most divergent, carrying no smallcraft. Instead, what on the other configurations is hangar bay space is used to mount munitions. One bay mounts two standard missile racks and four twin fore/rear 800TXq-yield torpedo tubes. The other bay houses four huge planetary 16800TXq-yield missiles for orbital bombardment or space-station attack. It has similar a weapons mix to the Fighter Carrier version, but adds additional point-defence weapons, raising the output to2800TXq. It is the most infrequently encountered of the configurations, only being spotted on seven recorded occasions.
Mobius Frigate
Length 350m Width 160m Height 80m The Mobius is the closest vessel the Cybertanks have to a dedicated transport vessel. They are not sighted as regularly as might be expected, given the often one-way trips most Cybertank fleets take out of Metalyka.
With an acceleration of only 4.5mc and rated at 50 MEUs, the Mobius wins no prizes for speed. It has atypically good protection for a transport vessel of its size, with 400TXq shields and an AIC of 180TXq. It also has a Displacer Screen, which goes a long way to shore up the defences further. The base Mobius has a fixed 700 TXq point-defence array.
By far the most common configuration sighted is the Mobius Transport, which uses its entire payload for stowage. The Mobius Recoveryship is sometimes spotted in the aftermath of a Cybertank victory. Equipped with a small hanger bay for repair/recovery drones, it mounts six tractor beams in order to tow disabled ships away for repair.
The Mobius Warship has come as occasionally nasty surprise. More were seen around Incursion 25 than any previous encounters. The most radical change to the Mobius, the Warship version increases the shield strength by 50%. Additional engine modules ramp up the acceleration to 12.2mc and increase the manoeuvrability to a respectable 141 MEUs. The armament is the biggest shock – a single 625TXq spinal mount particle laser cannon. It also mounts a single fore/rear 800TXq-yield torpedo tube, but the limited space means it carries only eight torpedoes.
The Mobius Weaselboat has been encountered infrequently, though it may be more common than can be confirmed by its very nature. Like the Binary Weaselboat, this Mobius version mounts a footprint magnification system. It uses the rest of its payload, however, in increase the engine power and shielding to exactly match that of a Toroidal. This lends it a great deal more credulity, and it can masquerade as a Toroidal Antifighter at long range convincingly – only the lack of ID fire might give it away while its shields hold. This can be particularly nasty if real Toroidal Antifighters are present and withhold their fire. On more than one occasion, a vessel has been destroyed because it incorrectly assumed that the Toroidal Antifighter was a Mobius Weaselboat until the Toroidal opened fire.
The most insidious of the Mobius configurations is the Mobius Beaconship. Pivotal to the Cybertank’s Beacondrive system, the Mobius enters the target solar system under cloak, and then acts as an anchoring point for the beacondrive portal to be opened. Due to their nature, no-one has managed to get a good look at one despite numerous attempts. The wreckage from the only known confirmed destroyed vessel seems to suggest that aide from the cloak, the rest of the payload is likely taken up by the Beacon system.
Particle Heavy Cruiser
Length 490m Width 150m Height 100m Only slightly larger than the Assimilator, the Particle is distinguished by the variations in its role. The Particle is slightly slower and less agile, only making 10.2mc acceleration and 115 MEUs. Unlike the Assimilator, the base Particle only carries a single mid-sized particle laser battery instead of the Assimilator’s forward cannons. Rather than a standard gun battery, this takes the form of a globular array that forms the nose of the stocky vessel. The base output of this system is 335TXq. Most the Particle’s configurations focus around enhancing this array in a variety of means, rather than adding additional weapons emplacements. It has almost twice the payload space that the Assimilator has to in which to do so.
The emphasis on power is reflected in the Particle’s larger-than-average power core. This lends itself to stronger shields (1600TXq), but less mass for armour, the Particle only having armour rated at 645TXq, about 75% of the AIC of the Assimilator.
The Particle Warship mounts a combined output total of 1400TXq of point-defence arrays, but the rest of the payload space is concentrated in enhancing the particle laser array, pushing the output (though not the range) by five times the base configuration to 1700TXq. The General Purpose configuration enhances it to 1350TXq, but adds a trio of missile racks for some long-range firepower. The Stealth Assault version array is similarly enhanced, but it drops the missile racks and halves the PD arrays in order to fit the cloak.
The Particle Beamship is designed to take advantage of a shield-stripped target and slice it apart. It is very similar to the Warship, but instead of enhancing the array, the additional systems focus the energy emitted into more intense beams fired over a longer recharging period, turning the particle laser emitter array into a 2200TXq heavy beam-class weapon.
The Particle Antifighter is most commonly spotted escorting other Particles. This version focus the emitter into a series of short range, diffracted beams (akin to shining a regular laser through a prism), turning it into a massive interdiction defence array, rated at 5100TXq.
The Particle Torpedoship is notably the only configuration which does not enhance the forward emitter, instead adding two point defence arrays and two four-salvo fore-and-rear 800TXq-yield torpedo tubes.
Pyramid Heavy Cruiser
Length 500m Width 190m Height 180m The Pyramid straddles the border between heavy cruiser and battlecruiser. It is about 13% bigger than the Particle. The Pyramid’s operational use is fire support, with most of its configurations designed for long-range combat. At 9mc acceleration and 100 MEUs, it has only just below average speed and manoeuvrability for a heavy cruiser and is above the norm for typical battlecruiser. It only has a heavy cruiser’s protection, however, with 1200TXq shields and an Armour Integrity Rating of 820, only a little heavier than the smaller Assimilator. A single fixed 325TXq particle laser battery that covers all aspects comprises its base weaponry, but this leaves a full third of its mass and volume for payload weaponry.
The Pyramid Warship is armed entirely with particle lasers. A series of batteries of combined of 1590TXq provides firepower out to 500 000 kilometres, save in the aft cone. A secondary 420TXq particle laser battery covers all directions. However, the Warship is defended by only a single 700TXq point-defence array, necessitating an escort.
The Torpedocruiser supplements the fixed battery with a second 325TXq particle laser battery. It carries one massive twin-salvo fore/aft 3000TXq-yield torpedo tube as its primary weapon, supplemented by two single-tube fore/aft 800TXq-yield torpedo launchers. Like the Warship, its point-defence system is minimal.
The Area Devastation configuration is centred around a triple-salvo 3000TXq torpedo launcher. Like the Torpedocruiser, it mounts a second particle laser array, but this one is a 420TXq battery; but unlike the Warship version is does not cover the aft region. Like its brethren, the Area Devastation configuration can defend itself from missiles and fighters with only a single PD array.
The Stealth Assault configuration mounts a cloaking device. The remaining payload is used to carry an array of 1470TXq fixed particle laser cannons.
Subjugator Frigate
Length 380m* Width 150m Height 100m *Warship configuration; base hull length 220m
The Subjugator is a relatively new hull, only being seen in the last fifty years or so. It is still not as commonly deployed as the smaller Binary and larger Electrolyte. The Subjugator is a fairly typical larger frigate in terms of defences, speed and manoeuvrability, with 13.3mc acceleration and 150 MEUs.
The Subjugator Warship mounts two fixed-mount 380TXq particle laser cannons whose barrels project a significant distance from the hull. Why this is the case, when the majority of Cybertank weapons emplacements are not prominent is unclear. The Subjugator’s remaining payload is a single missile rack and basic (700TXq) point-defence systems. This is the Subjugator most regularly deployed, acting as a shield-stripper. The lack of all-around long-range firepower is something of a detriment, but like the Electrolyte, the Subjugator is at the sweet-spot in terms of Displacer Screen enhancement and agility. This gives it more survivability than most vessels of its weight class.
The Subjugator Needleship carries a pair of short-range precision-fire particle beam arrays for slicing out individual enemy systems. Unlike the Assimilator Needleship, it does not carry any additional firecontrol suites, but instead basic point defence weapons and a smaller battery of standard particle lasers to help strip shields.
The other known configurations are the Torpedoship (which carries a single quadruple salvo fore-and-rear 800TXQ-yield torpedo tube), the cloaked Stealth Assault and the Munitions configuration (which carries a variety of missile and torpedo warheads).
Thermal Inversion Fighter
Length 11m* Width 8m* Height 3m* *Approximate
The Thermal Inversion is the Cybertank’s primary and only commonly deployed fighter. It was the subject of hot debate for decades when humanity first encountered it. Was it a fighter, piloted by a Cybertank – only one of the smaller ones could fit – a Cybertank in and of itself or a remote-controlled drone? Debris was inconclusive. Only after many wrecks could be analysed was it that the truth emerged that the inconsistencies were simply because the Thermal Inversion has, at various points, been all of them.
While the Thermal Inversion’s combat configurations have remained limited and much the same, it appears that internally, the Thermal Inversion is as varied as the larger starship’s configurations.
Some Thermal inversions are indeed piloted, being just big enough to accommodate a Radical as the pilot. There is some debate as to whether this makes this version of the Thermal Inversion less of a piloted vehicle than an exoskeletal suit. Some versions do appear to be remotely controlled drones, piloted by Cybertanks aboard a vessel. Since the galactic standard of communications systems (and thus jamming) have reached parity with Cybertank’s own communication systems, the instances of these versions being deployed has dropped sharply. This leaves the final version, the one that causes most confusion. This version of the Thermal Inversion has all the “natural” internal technology of a Cybertank, but intertwined with “constructed” technology. It was not until an analysis was conducted using two relatively undamaged Thermal Inversions that the secret was fully unpacked. (One was knocked out by ion weapons, the other by a penetrating railgun hit while operating in atmosphere that crashed into the sea.) With two mostly-intact samples to work from, the scientific team realised that the “natural” systems of the two were radically different from each other. Cross-referencing with the known physiology of the Cybertanks, the team was able to establish that the “natural” systems of one came from a Resistor, and the other from a Capacitor. This form ofThermal Inversion was not a breed of Cybertank, but rather the Cybertank equivalent of a full-body cybernetic replacement. (From the integration of the systems, likely a permanent one.) The similarities between this and various human experimentations with placing human brains in machine bodies was striking.
Despite – or perhaps because of – this variety of piloting methods, the Thermal Inversion has always been merely an average combat machine. Capable of 470 MEUs and rather better acceleration of 43.4millilights, the Thermal Inversion has slightly below average 85TXq fighter shields. It carries a hyperdrive, though the Cybertanks rarely make FTL strike missions.
The Fighter configuration proper mounts a pair of 22.15TXq particle lasers and two light torpedo tubes each with four 30TXq torpedoes. It is a mediocre interceptor, functional, but hardly outstanding.
The second configuration, Cruiser Support, is very different. It is much more dangerous to capital starships, mounting a rack of 225TXq-yield capital starship missiles. It only has half the payload (16 missiles) of a similar full-size rack on a Cybertank starship. The ability to fire from well outside the range of point-defence systems turns it into a significant threat. The only reliable way of engaging a squadron is with other fighters that can chase the Thermal Inversions down.
Toroidal Battleship
Length 780m Width 350m Height 130m The Toroidal is the Cybertank’s most prevalent capital ship. The Cybertanks seem to have a particular preference for it, even over similar designs like the Amplitude. The Toroidal is comparatively agile for a battleship-sized vessel, rated at 92 MEUs and with a very respectable acceleration of 9mc. The base Toroidal has two batteries of particle lasers with a combined total of 650TXq, and about 28% of its mass is reserved for weapons payload.
However, this leaves only enough mass, space and power for below-average defences. With only 2000TXq shields and an AIC of 1020Txq, it has less than twice the protection of the Assimilator half the size. This makes the Toroidal something of a glass cannon that even its Displacer Screen cannot compensate for.
The Toroidal Warship is most frequently spotted leading small Cybertank fleets. The primary firepower comes from a series of 400 000km-accuracy envelope particle laser batteries, concentrated in the front 180º, totalling 1680TXq in output. Two double tube fore-and-rear torpedo launchers carry 160 800TXq-yield torpedoes. However, its defences are not significant. It has only a modest point-defence array rated at 1400TXq and thought it carries a point-counter-measures system, this does not significantly protect it against missile fire. The inability to bring its main weapons against a target outside its frontal arcs is a further weakness that can be exploited. Despite this, it apparently remains extremely popular among the Cybertanks; perhaps the low survivability rate ensures that few Cybertanks return to expound on the flaws.
The Stealth Assault Toroidal is similarly equipped. It reduces the number primary particle laser batteries by 50%, but doubles the emplacements of the fixed batteries. The PCM system and torpedo tubes are removed to make room for the cloak.
The Toroidal Antifighter is a bizarrely Cybertank invention. Adding a point-counter-measure system, the entire rest of its payload is dedicated to interdiction-defence systems, to the point of removing two of the base Toroidal’s three firecontrol suites. While the resulting 9425TXq output is impressive, conventional wisdom questions placing it on a relatively slow-moving dreadnought. The Toroidal Antifighter is thus mostly used to escort other Toroidals or the vulnerable Pyramids, as it can keep pace with them.
The Toroidal Torpedodreadnought is one of the configurations the Antifighter Toroidal has to escort, as it is defended only by the most basic PD array. It mounts two eight-salvo 800TXq-yield torpedo tubes and a staggering (and largely excessive) 640 torpedoes and nothing else. The large torpedo magazine is only not an outright liability because the modern warheads are inert prior to arming. The number of torpedoes has baffled observers, since it exceeds the consumption of even a long battle and the Cybertanks do not use any specialised torpedo munitions. It might be argued that such a load provides strategic longevity, but that goes against all Cybertank strategic thinking. In practise, most Toroidal Torpedodreadnoughts are destroyed long before they get even a quarter of the way through their magazine.
Cybertank Configurations
(Editor’s Note: measurements are taken from bounding box extremities.)
Resistor I Grav Tank
Length 10.92m Width 4.15m Height 2.96m The most common Cybertank configuration encountered, the Resistor I configuration is the archetypal Cybertank. The Resistor I is a low-grav vehicle, not capable of true flight. It is armed with a “natural” technology particle laser cannon, rated at Tier 21 with an effective range of six kilometres (Cybertank racial inaccuracy notwithstanding).
Modern Resistor Is have an omnidirectional point-defence array mounted on the top left of the turret. This is a “constructed” technology modification. While the Resistors have always had a similar PD mount, the “natural” technology version was approximately half the strength, power and accuracy.
The contemporary Resistor I also has “constructed” technology shielding, with a Penetration Resistance of 60% and a Barrier Strength of 36. The primary emitters are spherical nodules, dispersed across the Cybertank’s armour plates. This significantly increases its protection. However, beneath the shields, the Resistor’s armour is below that of a typical contemporary MBT, topping out at Tier 17 energy resistance and Tier 16 impact resistance. A penetrating hit or a strike to the unshielded hull will usually kill the Cybertank. Unlike a vehicle with the same armour and shields, the Cybertank has organs and systems beneath the armour.
On each side of the turret, there is a smoke discharger. This is a “natural” technology which launches a semi-guided shell. In theory, this would give the Cybertanks considerable fine control of their smoke screens, but in practise the aforementioned Cybertank accuracy comes into play. The shells can be regrown by the Cybertanks (if they have sufficient matter or repair fuel) within about half an hour and each launcher hold six shells.
Resistor II Grav Tank
Length 8.68m Width 4.15m Height 2.96m The Resistor II is almost as common a configuration of the Cybertanks as the Resistor I, and both are the iconic configurations whose image is conjured up when the Cybertanks are referred to. Resistor IIs are identical to the Is apart from the turret.
Resistor IIs have a slightly smaller particle laser than the Is (rated at Tier 20), but this is supplemented by a mass driver gating. This is a “natural” technology weapon. While being able to penetrate most medium vehicles, the railgun is insufficient to threaten modern main battle tank armour (at least from the front). It is most effective under 500 metres, but remains dangerous to nearly 3000 metres, with sheer volume of fire compensating for Cybertank accuracy. Like the smoke discharger shells, the Resistor II regrows its own ammunition, and can regrow a single railgun slug very quickly in a few minutes, due to the smaller size and simplicity. A Resistor II with a steady supply of repair fuel can thus perform the role of a sustained fire machine gun indefinitely in terms of ammunition expenditure.
Capacitor Missile Tank
Length 8.68m Width 4.15m Height 3.10m The Capacitor is generally regarded as the most dangerous in its weight class. It is essentially a main battle tank with a pure missile armament. Unlike many such similar vehicles in the armies of other races, Capacitors are not lightly armoured, but have the same shielding and frontal armour ratings as a Resistor, only being slightly less armoured in the side and rear facings.
The Capacitor’s armament has progressed as Cybertank “constructed” technology had advanced. Contemporary Capacitors are armed with a turreted rapid-fire Matter-flux rocket launcher with 64 warheads. These rockets fire in bursts of four and are a threat to most main battle tanks. They are also semi-guided via sensor lock, providing the Capacitor with indirect fire capability. On the right of the turret is a quad-tube heavy Matter-flux missile launcher. The missiles carry a heavier payload than the rockets, but are much more limited in ammunition with only eight warheads. The missiles can be re-grown, though this takes some hours. Capacitors replenish their matter-flux rockets at an astonishing rate, however, meaning it is almost impossible for them to run out of ammunition.
The Capacitor can fight both in the front line or from safety, using Dispersions or Eradicators as target designators. They have their own sensors too, allowing platoon mates to concentrate a deadly salvo of fire. A Point-Defence particle laser array rounds out their weapons; like the Resistors, this is a “constructed” upgrade to their original “natural” system.
Cohesion Suppression Tank
Length 7.61m Width 3.71m Height 2.36m The Cohesion configuration is designated as a “Suppression” tank. For the Cybertanks, this qualifies as a dedicated anti-infantry vehicle. As the Cybertanks are simply too big to fit inside buildings (and rarely feel the need to try and capture anything anyway), the Cybertanks solution to the problem of infantry is the most basic – obliterate the place the infantry are standing in.
The Cohesion has shields rated at 50% Penetration Resistance and Barrier Strength of 30, but is only quite lightly armoured; it is rated Tier 16 verses energy attacks, but only Tier 12 against kinetic impacts.
The Cohesion’s primary weapon is a cannon that fires a Matter-flux shell. This is capable of inflicting vast amounts of damage to structures, plant-life and any vehicle unfortunate enough to be hit by it. A Cohesion can carry eight of these shells before needing to grow more.
Analysis of dead Cohesions was the first instance to have revealed the technology disparity. The design of these shells indicated they were replicated from the starship technology principles, as opposed to the Cybertank’s “natural” technology. Indeed, old records from early encounters indicate that the shells were a high-explosive weapon, whose design was entirely consist with the internal workings of the Cybertanks.
Dispersion Ultra Light Grav Tank
Length 4.44m Width 3.04m Height 2.61m The Dispersion configuration typically operates in the scouting role, often supplemented by Radicals. The Dispersion configuration is slower but much more durable then the latter, with Shields of 40% Penetration Resistance and a Barrier Strength of 24 and thicker armour (Tier 13 against impact and 15 against energy). The Dispersions have better sensors and better ECM systems, but are more lightly armed. They carry only a single Tier 12 light particle laser turret, which serves double duty and anti-armour and anti-infantry/anti-aircraft. Their offensive punch comes mainly from the four fixed missile tubes on its flanks.
Missile warheads and loads vary, but the most common encountered is one carry sixteen Matter-flux rockets (four in each tube) or a mixed load of eight Matter-flux rockets, four flame missiles and four shrapnel grenades. Like all Cybertanks, the Dispersion does not “reload” a magazine, but literally grows new missiles to replace expended ones as part of its physiology; time varies, but can be as little as a few hours.
Eradicator Heavy Tank
Length 14.69m Width 9.95m Height 4.58m The Eradicator Heavy Grav Tank is often seen as the command unit for large number of Cybertank ground units. One of the largest Cybertanks encountered, it is only rarely encountered operating as a unit.
Eradicators are cunning and canny leaders, though like most Cybertanks, they are not averse to casualties. The level of intelligence displayed is a point often suggested that Cybertank size correlates to age and experience. This is by no means certain, as others have pointed out – the larger size may come from the function, and not the other way around and being larger might just mean a larger brain.
Regardless, Eradicators are extremely dangerous on the battle field. With very heavy shields, considerable armour and a powerful sensor array, they are both hard to surprise, let alone destroy. They are armed with a massive double-barrelled particle laser cannon turret rated at a staggering Tier 25. The particle lasers are supplemented by two Matter-flux missile launchers on the sides of the turret. These weapons fire in tandem, launching two missiles each. Each launcher holds six missiles, but then must be reloaded from an internal bay (where the replacements are grown). The Eradicator’s bays hold up to 36 missiles at once (18 each), giving it a total of 48 missiles before it needs to grow replacements.
The Eradicator’s weapons are further rounded out by four magnetic linear accelerator gatlings covering each direction and four heavy point-defence particle laser arrays. Combined with the Eradicator’s excellent ECM systems, these render it virtually impregnable to individual missiles; a large or sustained salvo is required to even have a chance of getting through.
As to be expected from a vehicle of its size, the Eradicator is heavily protected. Shields of Barrier Strength 60 and 100% Penetration Resistance practically mandate that, like a starship, the shields must be collapsed before it can be destroyed. The underlying armour is not as tough – while rated at Tier 20 against energy attacks, it is only Tier 16 against impacts, making a typical Tier 20 or 21 MBT weapon a serious threat once the shields are down.
The Eradicator has twelve tractor-emitters, rather than the typical four, and two matter ingestions ports on its turret.
Radical Recon Tank
Length 3.89m Width 3.18m Height 2.02m The smallest and lightest of the Cybertank configurations, the Radical performs function as a scout. A Radical has the highest speed of all gravitic Cybertanks. They are lightly armed and shielded, with 30% Penetration Resistance shields of Barrier Strength 18, and armour that maxes out at only Tier 11 and 14 respectively with regard to kinetic and energy attacks. But their primary particle laser turret is extremely powerful (rated at Tier 18) for its size, matching that of some lighter main battle tanks. It also has a considerable arc of fire, allowing the Radical to perform in anti-infantry, anti-drone and anti-aircraft roles, supplement by the small particle laser emitter on the top of the turret.
Radicals have a noted tendency for over-confidence and rashness, and are prone to making poor decisions and displaying an arrogance which is high even by Cybertank standards. Some attribute this to their particular speciality, i.e. not dissimilar to a “fighter jockey” effect. Others suggest that this lends credence to the theory that Cybertanks “evolve” into larger forms as they age and this attitude is the folly of youth. As always with the Cybertanks, the truth is a mystery.
Vaporiser Light Tank
Length 8.68m Width 4.15m Height 2.96m The unusual Vaporiser is less a tank and more a mobile pill box. It has very heavy front armour; Tier 19 against energy and Tier 18 against impact (better than that of the Eradicator in the latter case), though it is significantly weaker elsewhere. A shield of Barrier Strength 18 and 30% Penetration Resistance adds a further level of protection.
With its fixed magnetic linear accelerator gatling, it is often seen functioning as a latter-day impromptu fixed-line machine gun.
Its main weapon, however, is the omnidirectional particle laser beam array mounted on the back, often confused for a sensor array. This has considerable range and is equally capable at anti-air or anti-armour roles.
However, these weapons are not the reason that the Vaporisers are most notorious. They possess six double-sized sized tractor emitters, four at the front and two at the rear. These provide them with enormous strength and manipulative ability. They can lift about 80 tons, and can throw around eight – more than enough to uproot and hurl a tree. There are few vehicles that can traverse woods or other difficult terrain so easily. The Vaporisers simply shove the trees out of their path like a human would brush aside undergrowth. They are sufficiently skilled at this, they can do it at nearly full speed. The resulting clear trail often allows the following Cybertanks to launch a strike from an unexpected direction.
© Alex Handley, 2010-2021
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Behind the Scenes
The Cybertank fleet was the joint first starfleet I had, along with the NAC from Ground Zero Games. As such, they date back some twenty-five years plus; both the NAC and the Cybertanks were the prototype design standards first for my Full Thrust house rules and eventually for Accelerate and Attack.
The Displacer screen is proof positive that there are no sets of rules to which I will not house-rule, even my own! The displacer goes back as far as the Cybertanks do. The current AttAcc (and most sensible) version of the displacer is still only really balanced at the very specific to-hit numbers of the Cybertank ships; as a general piece of technology, it would be trivially easy to abuse.
The majority of the Cybertank starships came from Irregular Miniatures. From the human starship range: The Mobius uses the SH1 Freighter model, the Assimilator (and also the “default” delta heavy cruiser mentioned elsewhere in the lore) uses the SH3 Destroyer model, the Particle the SH4 Cruiser and the Maintenance the SH5 Dreadnought. From the alien starships range, the Electrolyte and Cyclotron are the alien SA2 Frigate, the Pyramid is alien SA4 Cruiser and the Toroidal is (one of the variants of) the SA5 Dreadnought. The Binary is one specific variant of the minifighters (now in packs of 10). As these models are so pretty much iconic to me, I have no current plans or doing any CAD re-designs; especially since they are all still readily available from Irregular! The SH3 destroyer merits special mention. It is one of my very favourite starships and especially at the price! That design is ubiquitous across several fleets – the Herosines use a customised variant and at least four or five fleets over the years (along with quite a lot of the other ships in those ranges). (Other ships in Irregular’s original ten human and alien designs were used in the Royal Elven Navy (SH2 Frigate), my Kra’Vak fleet (SA3 Destroyer) and with some of Irregular’s other, later models, the SA alien freighter as a bio-ship.) So in many ways the General Hulls Designs fleet and the entire Herosine Empire and its lore has its basis from those models!
The Subjugators were a scratch-built conversion (using old Space Marine (i.e. before it was Epic) Ork Battlewagons).
The Colloidal a cardboard/scratch-built model and the Thermal Inversions were GZG’s NAC Firestorms. (These latter three, at least, would be good candidates for the Aotrs treatment of CADing-up at some point down the line; the Colloidal might be too big to be practical!)
The Amplitude is the only current one that is an Aotrs shipyards model, the Delta Dreadnought (though more correctly, the Delta Dreadnought is fundamentally a straight copy of the Amplitude).
The Cybertank ground force started out in 6mm (for Dirtside II), using again models from GZG (ones which are sadly no longer available) and I think from Irregular, thought I couldn’t tell you which model now. The Cybertanks were again in at the start, however; they and the (now) Soviet Remnant to fight them, were the first ground force I designed myself, with the Resister II being the very first 144th model I designed. The 144th Cybertank ground force has little in common with the old models, as they were re-designed from scratch. The Resister, Vaporiser, Cohesion and Capacitor carried over in function from that initial beginning, but little else, especially in the latter two cases. The Eradicator survived in function and name only; the modern Eradicator was an entirely new design, assimilating both functions the original Eradicator (the model of which was a tracked tank that bears no resemblance to the current version) and another heavy grav tank into itself, but being completely new. The Dispersion and Radical were entirely new designs.
One 6mm model that didn’t make the transition was the Obliterator, which used an old Epic Space Marine Titan (the old plastic one). Far too impractical a walker to be used at 144th scale – heck, it’s hard enough to hide the Aotrs walkers in most terrains! There was a VTOL too, but I’m not even sure that got a name (and while I still have the Dirtside II stats for the rest, that I don’t think even got that far.)
Model Availability
The Cybertank ground forces and the Amplitude (as the Delta Dreadnought) available from Aotrs Shipyards direct (contact us on Facebook (catalogue available from Aotrs Shipyards Task Force Group) or at aotrs.command@ntlworld.com) or via the webshops at:
[1] Incursion 25 is the Cybertank designation, retrieved from intelligence reports. It is assumed that “25” refers specifically to incursions into human space specifically (since it very roughly matches up), but it not by any means the twenty-fifth incursion in history. The lack of another identifier is odd, but suggests perhaps that there is likely some extra-linguistic complexity at work.
[2] Bleakbane’s Note: While this is the most updated source of information, this new edition also shows some… Creative editing on the part of the Grand Terran Sovereign Republic in support of their propaganda campaign to discredit any and all former human powers that existed before their abrupt take-over in 2346. The somewhat sloppy and cumbersome nature of the editing out of the identities of former powers suggests to outside sources either that this is either a rushed job by an inexperienced propaganda editor or some form of passive resistance on the part of the publishers.
[3] Bleakbane’s Note: Or near-elenthnars, though this would be likely unknown to the authors.
[4] A literal handful of reports over the centuries indicates that individual Cybertanks have been encountered that used magic or possessed psionic powers, so it would appear that they are not necessarily precluded, but the number would be consistent with Metalyka being strongly into the Minimal background magic category.
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