A drone is a ship in Tachyon: The Fringe.
Overview[]
Background[]
Drones take many forms and fulfill various functions throughout Sol and the Fringe. As their name implies, drones are unmanned craft designed to take up the least amount of space possible for its role. The product is an extraordinarily tiny vehicle that is fine-tuned for service.
Below is a list of the drone variants.
Defense drone[]
Defense drone stationary in space
Defense drones are utilized by the United Sol Government to train registered contract pilots in combat exercises.[1] Their tan color, hazard patterns, and boxy shape make them stand out against the black backdrop of space so that new pilots can quickly spot them at a glance. Since these drones are much smaller than a manned vehicle, using them as target practice allows pilots to sharpen their accuracy at an accelerated rate.
GalSpan also uses swarms of these drones to guard their stations in the Fringe.[2][3] While these drones lack effective armaments to take out intruding fighters, their main function in this case is to harass pilots until backup arrives. Advanced Ganymede Technologies uses these drones as automated mining tools dispensed by mining vessels during operation.[4]
Defense drones are slow and are incapable of tight turns. They are also outfitted with a Glint Light Laser, which has little effect against most ships.
Attack drone[]
Image of attack drone in TNS news article
Attack drones are thin, angular ships which in combination with their size make them one of the most evasive ships in the Fringe. They are so small that depending on which way they are facing, a majority of the ship can hide behind the yellow flame of its thruster.
GalSpan uses these drones sparingly for combat exercises to test the accuracy and speed of new recruits.[5] The first pilot in the group to destroy a set number of waves of these ships and race back to starbase determines the victor.
These small ships can also be deployed to deny access to cluttered areas where larger ships can't navigate freely, as Baron Hajod did to Baroness Onrald during his attempts to court her. Namely, he sprinkled these drones throughout the scrapyard near her Frontier station.[6]
Despite having a design that favors combat, these drones are not fast ships. They are also outfitted with only a Glint Light Laser.
Assault drone[]
Assault drone stationary in Twilight Fog
Invented by Dr. Randall Cassitor, assault drones are the main attack craft that guard the scientist's lair and also patrol neighboring sectors to clear away unwanted guests. They have slightly heavier armor than attack drones but are still small enough to be mass-produced at seemingly little cost.
These drones sport a dark hull which makes them easy to spot against the comparatively bright colors of the Twilight Fog. However, they are difficult to see in Cassitor's home sector, Cassitor Station Sector, where the fog is the darkest of any other location. However, the flames from their slanted twin thrusters make them much easier to spot in any engagement. They also have a red light at their nose that glows when they are in motion.
Assault drones appear exclusively in the Twilight Region. They are particularly dangerous in a swarm due to the fact that they are outfitted with a Deimos Heavy Laser, allowing them to make quick work of fighters and capital ships alike.
Advanced drone[]
Image of Cassitor's advanced drone
Advanced drones are manufactured by Dr. Cassitor. GalSpan also refers to them as mining droids.[7] These drones have a humanoid shape, and the surface where the "face" would be brightens with red light when the drone is in motion. They feature special hardware that protects them against the damaging effects of Twilight Fog. This way, the drones are able to carry out routine maintenance and repairs to Dr. Cassitor's station.
It is this protective hardware that enticed GalSpan to steal one of these drones for their Hephaestus Project.[8] Galspan reverse engineered it to make swarms of drones that could service the Hephaestus Mining Complex without being affected by its ripstar attraction device.[9]
While advanced drones were designed to carry out maintenance functions, they are equipped with an Arc Light Laser for light defense.
Multipurpose drone[]
Multipurpose drone stationary in space
As their name implies, multipurpose drones fulfill a variety of roles, typically EVA activities. These drones dart around shipyards and administer repairs to docked capital ships.[10]
When viewed in isolation, this drone appears to be awkwardly made. It features a bulky shape with a broad, flat top, and it has two tool arms that extend forward. However, this craft's design suits its task. The bulky shape provides room for its operational hardware. The flat area on the back can likely be used to ferry objects to and from the station. The hunched shape of the drone can also enable it to fit through small openings, like cracks in the hulls of comparatively massive capital ships. The length of the tool arms provides extra clearance in case repairs in a small crevice must be made.
Multipurpose drones carry no weapons.
Spy drone[]
Spy drone in Kuiper Sector
Spy drones are probes that discreetly monitor activity in a sector. Due to their small size, they are hard to spot in an asteroid field or when they are tucked up close beside a space station. This makes them an ideal tool for espionage. In fact, corporations have been known to scatter these drones in rival territory to collect information.[11]
The Bora have also used spy drones to gather intelligence on GalSpan operations.[12] In one case, a deployed probe would transmit data to a nearby nexus of satellites that sent the information to the Bora in real time.[12] While the information they were gaining from GalSpan was never disclosed, this spy network was important enough to the Bora that they would deploy two cruisers to intercept any pilot that interfered with the satellites.[12]
Spy drones are unarmed.
TNS coverage[]
Trivia[]
- The advanced drone is one of two ships in the entire game to use an Arc Light Laser. The other is the Dagger.
- Multipurpose drones are one of the few asymmetrical ships in the game. They also appear only in the contract Advance with Courage.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ As seen in the contract Combat Training (USG).
- ↑ Several groups of these drones guard Draconis Research Facility in the contract Weasel in the Coop.
- ↑ These drones guard the Prometheus Production Facility in the mission Prometheus Patrol.
- ↑ The mining vessel Burkhart 4192 releases these after announcing that it will begin mining operations in the contract Escort Mining Vessel. This only occurs once all Darts in Ganymede Sector have been destroyed and the Burkhart comes to a stop.
- ↑ Jake Logan competes against Lakita Ramos in the mission Bonus Incentive Program.
- ↑ As seen in the mission Core Weapon.
- ↑ According to the title of the Hephaestus Project component Cassitor's Mining Droid.
- ↑ Jake Logan steals one of these drones in the contract Drone Abduction.
- ↑ Tricia Bales mentions this in the pre-mission debrief of the contract Drone Abduction.
- ↑ Drake Production Facility uses these drones to repair an impounded Bora carrier during the mission Advance with Courage.
- ↑ As seen in the contract Security Breach.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 There is a hidden spy drone beneath Canopus Research Facility during the mission The Identity Game. Destroying it spawns enemy satellites that summon two cruisers.