Mech Manufacturers

The Seven's Vow Coalition relied heavily on advanced mechs for use in exploration, labor, and warfare, and an extensive variety of these machines exist across the cultures of former Coalition space.

Lexington & Caldwell
Closely affiliated with the Banner Post due to their close physical proximity (the firm is based in New Athens, one of Fugue's many moons), L&C designs are innovative, piloted by Post volunteers eager to get their hands on new tech. L&C designs tend to be smooth-edged and capable of handling exposure to the Singing Deep; they're named for horses, whether historical or mythological.


 * The Kelpie is currently being aggressively field-tested and may potentially become the standard for Banner Post dispatch-captains; capable of being fired through the Deep at high velocities with minimal damage, the mech is intended to travel to far-flung worlds and operate along with minimal support infrastructure. With a spherical body and stubby limbs, the Kelpie is often considered cute, a reputation L&C gladly cultivates with cartoon imagery of the mech on a growing variety of merchandise.

Kyklops Root
A Dodonan skunkworks, producing high-end and experimental automata for Roots and other black-ops units the Tribunal employs in warzones like Aureate. Designs are frequently prototypes being field-tested, a feature some pilots embrace and others loathe. Kyklops designs are named for Byzantine themes.


 * The Kappadokios is a prototype humanoid model capable of a direct nervous interface with a properly-modified pilot; it's capable of dizzying speed, and wields two directed-energy blades, as well as [REDACTED].
 * The Seleukeias is another design on the same core as the Kappadokios, but unlike that model, it trades speed for endurance, with bone-like armor plating giving it excellent protection. Just as its predecessor, its arms [REDACTED].

Polymetis Branch
A Dodonan military manufacturer, tasked with the design and supply of the Tribunal's standard military forces; their mechs ('automata' or sometimes 'matas' in the Dodonan vernacular) are a common sight on Faraway, in Dodonan territory on Aureate, and anywhere else the Dodonan state has any significant presence. Polymetis automata are specialized for their battlefield role and intended to function well in mixed units; many beyond the Tribunal consider them overdesigned. Their designs are named for historical classes of soldier.


 * The Crusader heavy scout is a four-legged "spider" frame with a low, wide stance that helps it cross sandy terrain, covered in rounded edges and carrying substantial firepower.
 * The Psiloi is a light walker mech equipped with jump jets and rocket pods; it rapidly leapfrogs across the battlefield, blast any who get close with a hail of rockets before bouncing away to safety.
 * The Alaris is another mobile design, hunched and humanoid; shoulder turbines allow it rapid movement, while a hardened sensor suite allows field commanders to coordinate other automata elements on the battlefield.
 * The Janissary is another humanoid design, a staple on Dodonan frontlines across the stars, with a featureless sensory orb as a "head" capable of 360-degree vision and rapid communication; it can hold a number of armaments, but the standard loadout is an automata-scale SMG. A light frame with a degree of exposed elements and a heavy "backpack" battery give it a somewhat fragile appearance, but the Janissary is a dependable combat machine - the Tribunal wouldn't make so many of them otherwise. A number of civilian manufacturers are allowed to produce disarmed Janissary units, most notably the Type-VCR (Variant Camera Rig), outfitted with a number of recording devices and often used by documentary crews.
 * The Peltast is an old workhorse of the Tribunal armed forces; those still in service are technically the sixth iteration of the venerable fighting machine, dating back well into the days of the Coalition proper. The Janissary's familiar sensor dome sits on a spindly four-legged chassis that evokes the later Crusader, while a number of modular hardpoints allows for the addition of everything from machine guns and artillery platforms to communications arrays and weather-detection equipment. Dodonan battle doctrine have since come to favor specialized automatas over the Peltast's customization potential, but some more distant Dodonan colonies lack anything more sophisticated then well-repaired Peltast squadrons.
 * The Hippeus is an elite command unit, one that predates the Alaris and is exponentially more expensive to produce; the familiar "spider" base supports a humanoid torso with lanky arms, while a crown of sensors and communications equipment in place of a head make it a top-rate command automata. Some squads outfit them with either heavy armor or space-capable thrusters.

Friendly Construction Company
A now-defunct civilian manufacturer that sold cheap, reliable mechs to buyers across the Pearlescent Expanse, many of which are still in service today despite their brand's collapse. FCC mechs are built for purpose but easily modifiable, and are given common Russian first names.


 * The Alexei is little more than a larger forklift, but its light walker frame and lengthy legs make it a surprisingly fast runner; it's not unknown for dissident groups to remove the front grapples and mount weapons platforms instead, lacking access to proper combat mechs.
 * The Boris was intended for arboreal worlds, a broad and boxy logging unit equipped with twin saws; their conversion for both grey market salvaging and underground bloodsport was essentially immediate.
 * The Sofia is a small, boxy repair unit, equipped with simple diagnostic tools and a number of integrated tools (welding torch, manipulators, rivet gun, etc) intended to enable an ease of maintenance for far-flung communities of what was then the Silver Frontier. Some have interiors sealed against vacuum and are equipped with microthrusters, allowing them to work in space to do orbit or ship-scale repairs.
 * The Irina is a rickety-looking machine with long limbs, carrying a massive thermal drill in its hands; the mech was built to help drill through ice sheets on icy worlds like Nadezhda itself, but also see use as imprecise mining units - or to pierce deep into other mechs in melee combat.

Golden Tzar
A defunct Coalition Era Nadezdhan military mech manufacturer. Specializing in super heavy mechs, gaudy, expensive, and heavy, and usually coming with considerable arms to bear. They were dissolved in the fighting following the breaking of the coalition, their mechs were usually named after ancient geographical features of earth.


 * The Ob was an enormous bipedal mech used as a heavy weapons platform. In place of articulating arms it has two hardpoints on either side of the squat, headless "body", which in congruence with its ability to split its legs and stabilize itself, allowed it to mount terrifying armaments, either used as direct or indirect heavy artillery.

Naruchi Frameworks
A manufacturer that combines designs of both Nadezhdan and Tyranon origins (although it remains associated with the Nadezhdan Exiles), Naruchi is contracted by the Wolfram Union. Naruchi frames are often outfitted with a variety of regalia and finery, most commonly mech-scale capes embroidered with intricate floral designs.


 * The Talon is a frame in the stylized shape of a knight with the head of a wolf. Designed almost entirely to serve as an aesthetic figurehead, its design uses deliberately simple and striking shapes so as to make it easy to draw and make figurines of. The brunt of its weight comes from reinforced plating, while the skeleton of the machine is left extremely bare-bones; most Talons defeated in battle collapse due to internal failure, while displaying little external damage. This allows for speedy recovery, and lets those that employ Talons boast about their longevity. Standard equipment for talons is a beam glaive for keeping foes at a distance, and a vulcan cannon equipped with automatic targeting, to ensure pilots don't need high-level pilot training. In fact, many Talon pilots tend to be upper-class citizens paying their respective militaries millions for a year in a Talon's cockpit.

The Royal Rumyantsev Company
Proudly based on Nadezhda proper, the RRC has a long and storied history that allegedly dates back to before the original exile of the Nadezhdan founding princes. Rumyantsev machines are built for war, designed to the highest standard; they're named for ships of the Tsarist Russian navy.


 * The Kagul is a speedy duelist of a fighting machine, with long reverse-jointed legs designed for balance and speed; it traditionally carries a matched pair of fighting blades, but more practical pilots typically arm it with some kind of handheld mech-scale firearm.

Toporik Transportation
A Nadezhdan outfit well-known to be a front for the Toporik crime syndicate on Aureate, TPK TRANS manufactures a number of reliable transport units, but has made its real fame with cutting-edge racing machines optimized for absurd performance (and speeds that can kill an unmodified pilot).


 * The Beryl Begune is a bipedal walker unit with a sleek, aerodynamic profile; a "Screech Drive" utilizing an unstable mix of liquid fuel and refined tehoma enable it to reach dangerously high speeds and produce the high-pitched noise that gives the drive its name. The Beryl Begune was a custom piece, produced as a matched pair with the Zoloto Liga for a duo of Syndicate racers, though the latter machine was destroyed during a race and the former was stolen by its fleeing driver.
 * The Platina Udar is a rocket-powered beast, a humanoid design with an anvil-like head; using lessons learned from the Beryl Begune, it takes that incredible track performance and brings it to the battleifield. It boasts an improved Mk. II Screech Drive, capable of reaching speeds that melt its outed ablative armor layers, and swings a massive sledgehammer to crush smaller rigs in a single blow. Only one exists currently, made on the orders of Toporik Jet himself, though it could enter mass-production if it proves useful.
 * The Nikel Ruka recently entered limited production for a number of wealthy clients on Aureate, though it could prove a hot commodity if exported off-world; its humanoid design was meant to be sleek and eye-catching, with curving angles and a delicate, almost feminine figure. As is to be expected from a TPK TRANS design, the Nikel Ruka capable of reaching incredible speeds - though the true potential of its drive can't be tapped without aftermarket modifications to remove the safety limiters.

Azure Showroom
The Peacock cousin to the Lowborn Machinists' Guild, Azure Showroom puts out cheap labor mechs with flexible loan policies; they're squat, sleek, and they'll sell you more decals than you can eat. Their mechs are named after epic heroes.


 * The Sanzang is a puissant engineering mech, coming with three built-in chemical demons and an AV headset crown for the pilot! Get connected to any facility you need with our digital hookups; you'll never miss a lighting cue again! (It looks like D.Va's mech with bomb pods on its dorsal surface and a bunch of tiny tool arms like a lobster's mouth.)

Kingfisher Mechatronics
A company of Peacock origin, Kingfisher Mechatronics boasts the sleekest aquatic and semi-aquatic platforms found in the sector.


 * The flagship Alcedo platform is built for pleasure, being able to quickly transition from flight to diving through the beautiful oceans, all while keeping guests comfortable.
 * A slightly older model, the Dolomedes is an eight legged platform first popularized for its ability to skim across the surface of the water at high speeds but has more recently seen a growing use on the ocean planet of Vuleram where it excels at catching fish as they surface before retreating back to floating packing facilities.

Orsino
This Peacock-based mech company churns out vogue idol mechs, and the theater of war is just that -- a theater. Their current line has an organic humanoid look drawing on Singing Deep aesthetics, and are named after mythological hybrids.


 * The Nephilim wires you straight up to the mech's cockpit for full sensory and identity integration, using designs just acquired from a secret Dodonan facility! Don't miss out on the gold camera eyes, for all you live-streamers! (It looks like an EVA had a baby with a disco ball and shoots orange-pink lasers out of its fingertips.)

Photonica
A Peacock firm originally specializing in aviation design, recently pivoting into the mech market with a number of sleek transforming machines. Most Photonica machines are named for archery terminology.


 * The Recurve is a shiny silver machine with a howling jet intake that allows it to tear across the sky at supersonic speeds. In plane form, it's a fighter-bomber, mounting a sizable payload of rockets that help it strike targets on the ground hard; as a mech, it's an agile combatant who can dish out considerable harm, but can't take much of a beating at all.


 * The Clovis

Samara Moonworks
Although only a few of Samara's former moon factories remain operational today, thousands of war machines that came out of its foundries still roam the battlefields of the Expanse, bearing the engineer-priests' ancient moon blessings and maintained using equally old methods. SM rovers are recognizable for their oval shapes, mostly-gray coloration and plenty of rivets, giving them an appearance akin to that of a lunar surface. SM rovers bear names of historical Earth astronomers.


 * The Copernicus
 * The Agrippa
 * The Suri

St. Lamont's
According to Satellist canon (or some say, TMC propaganda), Saint Lamont was a humble engineer living on a deep-space repair station during the Age of the Silver Expansion. Many legends have sprung up around the figure, and have become the foundation of the state-owned St. Lamont's manufacturer, whose blessings are carried by most everyday Creed rovers, including the bulk of the mid-range military ones, used in countless theaters across the Expanse.

While hardly at the forefront of innovation, St. Lamont's prides itself on versatility and reliability of their rovers, carrying the same divine boons of their namesake artisan.

St. Lamont's possesses a unique naming scheme, where each distinct mech is named after a passage from a particular work in the Lunar Codices. (Often, but not always, ones pertaining to Saint Lamont themself.)


 * Zarizians 18:2
 * Swords 9:33
 * Hammers 16:1

Umbra Labs
Knowledge of this Credent manufacturer is known to few - its foundries and training facilities located on the forbidden moon of Shyr, it supplies the Creed with rovers suited for operations requiring discretion, precision and specialization, most often in the employ of the New Moon Congregation, TMC's premier black-ops and intelligence office. UL rovers are often outfitted with hushsteel, known for being exceptionally silent, swift and resistant to tehomic interference, and their designs (and names thereof) bear resemblance to mythological lycanthropes and other creatures of the night.


 * The Werewolf
 * The Dhampir
 * The Wraith

Heliodor Soarforge
Heliodor knechts are invariably capable of transforming into jet-like forms and traveling at high speeds; flight holds a particular place in the Tyranon heart, and thus the designs of this order form the trusted core of every Dynasty war fleet. Most feature pointed and swooping shapes reminiscent of both fighting blades and birds of prey, believed to inspire martial valor - and indeed, many a Tyranon army has rallied at the sight of their vicious air support.


 * The Mezer is a light, quick fighter, meant to function as a speedy interceptor in defense of slower craft; two claw-like limbs extend from the bottom of the knecht in jet form, becoming talons on the feet of a slight knecht often wielding light weapons when transformed. Mezers deploy in bulk to shield Tyranon space vessels, and are also used for quick hit-and-run strikes on vulnerable terrestrial targets.
 * The Lanza is a fighter-bomber that punches well above its weight, carrying surprisingly heavy firepower for its size and capable of outrunning most other threats on the battlefield. In jet form, the Lanza has a long, lean profile, with notable missile capacity and roaring rear engines; it retains the missile capacity in knecht form, but most carry a melee weapon of some sort and either a shield or a second blade. Lanza squadrons typically consist of veteran aces, and have little tolerance for noble heirs who believe themselves entitled to fly alongside them.

The Lowborn Machinist's Guild
Though their designs are widespread across Tyranon space, Guild mechs are widely disparaged by the nobility; they produce civilian machines for the common workers that carry the Dynasty on their backs, most of whom are serfs with limited rights and no social mobility. LMG designs are hardy and straightforward, designed to do simple tasks until the mech or the pilot can do so no longer.


 * The Mole is a bulky humanoid mech built for use in Terrenon mines. Its arms end in massive excavator claws, capable of digging or smashing through hard stone - or another mech's hull - with relative ease, while an internal reactor provides long-run power at the cost of a blistering heat output, bathing its pilot and its surrounding alike with sweltering temperatures.
 * The Mule is a massive four-legged walker, superficially resembling the beast of burden that is its namesake. A large cargo bay allows it to carry freight (most commonly ore or foodstuffs, though an astonishing breadth of the Dynasty's goods see the back of a Mule at some point), or provide a very uncomfortable ride for a great number of people.

Shatterglass Foundry
A line of born craftsmen whose techniques and designs are closely-kept secrets, these smiths and artisans have been the loyal possession of the Terrenon ruling line since the earliest mists of Dynasty history. Shatterglass designs are essentially unique commission pieces, built for their pilots according in part to the direction of old divinatory techniques preserved down the ages. Shatterglass mechs are named for legendary or mythological weapons, and are all one of a kind. To own a Shatterglass machine is a sign of either imperial blood or imperial favor - or to be a bold thief who doesn't fear the Dynasty's wrath. Secret to all but a select few is that each Shatterglass Custom has a "heart," an essential nature it seeks to fulfill, and will simply refuse to function for a pilot it deems "unworthy" (after an instantaneous scan of their psyche); most simply crave battle, rejecting any cowards who enter the cockpit, but a few have stranger hungers for justice or glory.


 * A single unit has been seen on the desert world of Aureate, known as a Shatterglass Custom Joyeuse, seemingly built like a lanky humanoid knight and capable of becoming functionally invisible - the light-manipulation visibly bears a stained glass visual effect that's the Foundry's signature.
 * Resting in a stasis vault beneath Korummerung on Aureate for an age is the Hatheloke, an immense giant kneeling as it rests on a massive two-handed greatsword, whose gifts are unknown. Selamis Hogen refused to touch the thing, and the usuper Gerea spits and roars in impotent rage as it continues to refuse her.
 * A gleaming shell covered in imperious decorations cannot hide the true nature of the Tyrfing - a lean, hungry predator, its elegantly-sculpted limbs ending in keen armor-piercing claws. It wants nothing more than to leap into the fray, heedless of its own survival, a storm of blades and mechanical fury.
 * Deceptively thin, the Labrys has a frame that appears almost warped or frail, somewhat incongruously juxtaposed against the double-headed axe it carries as a namesake - until shattered glass and lightning arc across the blade and leap from its talons. This wise beast hungers for righteous devastation, to level the world with primal fury in the name of justice.
 * Passed down as a family heirloom by House Ixaldar on Teter, the Dyrnwyn is a sturdy knecht clad in brickwork that functions as part aesthetic, part ablative armour. It has a bell-shaped torso and wields a sword that can be quickly super-heated, and a versalite array of support weapons to keep opponents at bay. It desires to protect all members of a worthy pilot's lineage.

Varonn Mechyards
A Tyranon manufacturer tasked with the arming of the scions of the Eighteen Families, Varonn's designs are tough and imposing, with a clear martial aspect. Varonn designs are broken down into different series, each named for famous European castles.


 * The Malbork-series is a "centaur" design that's swift despite its heavy armor plating, most frequently used for daring field officers; some athletes in the jousting arena trade the standard sword for a telescopic lance.
 * The Eltz-series is a heavy humanoid design with a large artillery cannon on the left limb and an assault shield on the right, common for defending palace bastions - or sieging them.
 * The Hohenzollern-series is massive, Varonn's largest design, and is a beast meant to lead assaults; thick armor plating gives it a brutal appearance, while its thick arms usually carry a paired axe and rotator cannon.
 * The Watchfield-series is one of Varonn's few designs meant for non-noble pilots, and like its cousins the Sundorne and Rodborough that difference is keenly felt; scrawny and under-armored, huge levies of Watchfields form the cannon fodder of many Dynasty house armies, carrying small firearms or explosive-tipped spears.

Basylian Monasteries
A Monkhood that maintains a few "Monasteries" throughout UC space. These are places where Voices, and Chords grow up along side one another, the monks of such orders are masters of crafting Bells, designing them over years as their counterparts grow. Every Monastic Bell is unique, and Bell's themselves are given a number, and not named, nor do they fit particular models of design. Below are some example Bells, with the Psalm poem associated.


 * "Ethereal balm upon me shed, As one who sits ashore and longs - Prodigal of Blue" The Bell of Psalm 22, was a lithe humanoid design, thin pointed legs, an umbral midnight blue at their points, creeping into a royal navy where they met the knees, before breaking into a soft cream of porcelain, motes of blue entwined throughout the armour plating, bleeding their colour into the white around them. Its head did not rest upon its shoulders, it was instead held by one of its 8 thin arms, cradled near its body, a soft face of peaceful weeping. This Psalm's Chord had the ability to draw tehoma from the deep to it's palms, hardening into thin needle like spears of tehomite, which it hurled at foes. Its whereabouts are not public record.
 * "She whispers, Blindly Run; For we brought them All" The Bell of Psalm 193, was a humanoid beast in design, similar to that of a bipedal hyena, and making noises similar to that ancient creature, though its coat and body were a deep black. It bounded across the battlefield on all fours, relatively simple in its design until seen in motion. It's Chord allowed it to grip reality, and blink through the deep, passing distances quickly. This same melody engine that allowed it to move through the deep, also allowed it to cast others into it as well. The distinctive slat like design across the front of its chest, were dozens of small armatures, ending in hooks, and when opened and revealed, the Melody engine inside its chest cavity could open a gate to the deep, where it would pull all or part of foes in, either depositing all or part of them, after being disabled with tooth and claw. Thought to be destroyed.
 * "From eyes Unusual Brightness shed - And Lambs loud bleat of hilly bourn" The Bell of Psalm 6, held the form of a whale, colossal in size it was the Bell of a team of three Voices and their Chords. Its body looked as though a carved ivory puzzle, intricate layes upon layers, visible through each other and shifting, its bone like material heavily pearled from time in the Deep. The great Chord within, along with the intricate technology of the Bell in which it resided, allowed it to form force field like barriers, commonly used in ship to ship combat, blocking assaults from foes, and storing the energy delivered then dispersing it either slowly, or all at once, as a great beam. Stationed at Tsovina Shipyards.

Legato Biotech
A Universal Choir-affiliated manufacturer, that specializes in fluid, organic mechs that draw heavy inspiration from the native creatures of the Singing Deep.


 * The Manifold is an octopus design that was swifty discontinued, with color-shifting chromatophores and a claustrophobic tehoma-flooded cockpit; inexperienced pilots struggle to control the limbs, which have a mind of their own that's led to friendly fire incidents.
 * The Pseudoceros is a mech shaped like a cross between a colourful flatworm and a fish. It has bright bio-luminescent plating and ablative, bladed fins, and an incredibly strong jaw that it uses to grip its victims before blasting them with a corrosive gas from its maw. The pseudoceros can glide in the air at considerable speed, as well as swim and burrow through sand and the like. It can also move along the ground in a slithering fashion, albeit slower than other forms of movement.

Pesok Heavy Industry
A state-run PRA manufacturer based in the city of Pesok, whose focus is on a variety of cheap, reliable mechs for both civilian and military use. Their designs show a trademark Nadezhdan affinity for ruggedness; a Pesok Heavy machine should be easy to repair in the field. The Aureate Fighting Brigades primarily field Pesok Heavy combat frames, whose pilots frequently tinker with them - a practice Brigade commanders often turn a blind eye to.


 * The Bandit is the standard-issue fighting machine of the AFB, a headless humanoid mech that's light, quick, and easy to adapt to a variety of battlefield situations. Pilots sit within a sturdy central rollcage - the Bandit's design has considerable effort put into user survival, after the bloody price paid in the revolution - and can mount a number of both weapons and mobility mounts with minimal fuss. Versatility comes at the cost of some durability; most Bandits rely on speed to keep them out of danger, as their thin armor can't take more than a few direct hits.
 * The Wrecker is a heavy shock trooper, meant to be the vanguard of a fighting force and bear the brunt of punishment, with a squat frame and thick that plating draw inspiration from the machines familiar to the liberated Tyranon serfs. Wreckers are almost never deployed without massive tower shields held in one arm, the other bearing everything from boarding shotguns to mech-scale bludgeoning weapons, and are a staple on  carriers of the People's Fleet. Wrecker pilots tend to be pugnacious and unafraid of death; they stare straight into hell and advance.
 * A civilian model, the Riveter, uses the Wrecker's chassis, but trades out combat armaments for heavy machinery; they do everything from spaceship salvaging to firefighting, and see considerable use on Aureate in the arduous work of clearing out undetonated munitions left from the century of war.

Composite Moonworks
Based on the forge-moon of Samara, Composite represents the cutting-edge of PRA military innovation, building prototype combat mechs for the revolutionary effort. Moonworks machines benefit from Dodonan advances in materials technology, directed energy weapons, and bio-engineering, owing the the many ex-Tribunal engineers within the company ranks. The company has a non-manufacturing Reclamation Division that focuses on mapping Samara, devastated by the Coalition nearly three hundred years ago; current estimates have the moon only at 18% of its former industrial capacity.


 * The Alclad is a multi-role combat frame designed for aerial supremacy, capable of transforming between a maneuverable jet form and a quick, sturdy mech mode that punches well above its weight with missiles and handheld armaments. Composite built a limited number of these frames in concert with the PRA's secret KALEIDOSCOPE program; the machine connects to an augmented pilot's neural interface, granting split-second reaction times and incredibly fine control. Biomechanical arms help alleviate the worst of user dysmorphia while linked with the machine, but have proven unpopular in tests with non-augmented pilots, many of whom find them 'creepy.'