The Xen-Tau Industries drone Model 76 “Nemesis” was a fully autonomous combat drone deployed just weeks before the start of the Uprising.
Nemesis was instantly recognizable due to its signature wing shape and one-of-a-kind control unit shell, resembling a large, alien egg. The look inspired fear and respect in the hearts of human pilots and it was certainly not misleading.
Xen-Tau developed Nemesis as a direct response to SCXE-200 “Buddy”, the wildly successful combat drone from Tamahito, Xen-Tau’s main competitor. But where Buddy’s design was playful and even elegant, Nemesis was brutal, alien and dark to a point.
It was also very, very deadly. The hull of the ship consisted of nothing but the control unit shell, made of a super durable titanium alloy and a huge, powerful Burr & Martin engine. The wings, mounted in a forward angle, could support a vast array of weaponry, but Nemesis was mostly outfitted with two 180° heavy laser cannons and two front mounted plasma blasters. This might not seem like much, but in dogfights, Nemesis in a default configuration was pretty much without equal.
The reason for that rested in the “egg”. The control unit shell housed the most advanced AI system in the world. Nemesis got as close to the strong AI as it legally could. It was able to learn, coordinate, evolve new strategies and react to the always changing battlefield without hesitation.
It was therefore somewhat unfortunate that one of the first acts of the Free Army after the start of the Uprising was to wholly obliterate the headquarters and main manufacturing plant of Xen-Tau on Mars. This forever halted the production of new Models 76, with just a little over hundred thousand out there. Additionally, a hack or a software error just before the attack has sent an over-the-air update to all existing Nemesis drones, switching the main AI personality to “British gentleman”.
Once the Uprising grew into a full scale conflict, the Nemesis has been found on both sides regularly. Most of the drones followed their original rival SCXE-200 Buddy and joined the Free Army, but some were later captured and reprogrammed to serve the Commonwealth. The British gentleman persona, however, has never been successfully removed.
“Have at thee, you scoundrel!”
“You leave me no choice, fisticuffs mode engaged!”
“A-HA! I dodged! HA-HA.”
“You shall not escape, you dimwit! Thruster engage!”
“That has been uncalled for, sir! Nobody will insult my intelligence. Missiles away.”
– Transcript of radio chatter between two enemy Nemesis drones during a dogfight
Notes
- This is my first Technic spaceship
- It basically all started when I saw “the egg” in The Vermillion Attack and just knew I wanted to build a drone around it
- It has a tendency to lean forward on the small stand-like thruster on the bottom. I felt moving it forward more would compromise the look, so I decided to live with it.
- The thruster can be slightly adjusted and the big guns both move