Combat Frame Data: Nidulans

  

Model number: N/A

Code name: Nidulans

Nickname: Nid, starcrab, space crab

Classification: attack spacecraft

Manufacturer: Ynzu

Operator: Ynzu

First deployment: Unknown

Crew: 1 pilot in full-immersion cockpit

Length: main body 30 meters

Weight: 150 metric tons

Armor type: Fractal diamond isomer armor

Powerplant: cold fusion reactor, max output 8,000 KW

Propulsion: EM impellers: 4x 56,000, 4x 37,500 kg, 8x 18,750kg; top speed 3000 kph; maneuvering impellers: 30, 180° turn time 0.80 seconds

Sensors: gravitic, radar, thermal, radiation, optical array; main compound
cameras surrounding central “eye”

Fixed armaments: x4 gravity claw, mounted on arms; x4 graviton cannon, power rated at 2.4 MW, one mounted between each claw; x8 anti-vehicle autocannon, power rated at 0.75 MW, mounted in fire-linked pairs on each side of main body

Special equipment: full-immersion cockpit, ion field projector, TC/D drive

ISBC researchers named the vanguard of the Ynzu swarm after a self-replicating fungus used in gene experiments. The first Zue craft encountered by humans, the Nidulans’ regeneration ability led CDF pilots to mistakenly believe that fresh Nids were budding from supposedly neutralized units.

Like its terrestrial cousin the Claviceps, a Nid bore a superficial likeness to a giant crab with a jade-green shell. Another feature the starcrabs had in common with Clavs were the adaptive diamond isomers that comprised their structures. A Nid could absorb EM and thermal energy even more efficiently than an XSeed’s carbyne laminar armor and use that energy to repair itself in combat. Each Nidulans carried an ion field to bolster its already formidable energy weapon resistance.

The Nidulans’ ranged armaments employed graviton manipulation effects common to all Ynzu weapons. This effect weakened targets’ molecular bonds, allowing plasma bolts to penetrate any known armor. Even XSeeds could only survive one or two direct hits. This technology gave the Nid an edge over its main rival, the MCF-122 Emancipator. To counter this advantage, UC military doctrine dictated that XSeeds engage space crabs in pairs.

Typically, a Nidulans weakened its target with plasma fire from a distance before closing to deliver the coup de grace with its massive claws. A Nid reversed its guns’ molecular bond-weakening effect to harden its pincers, giving them enough power to shear through XSeed armor.

Primarily intended for space combat, A Nidulans could readily enter a planet’s atmosphere to engage airborne enemies or conduct air strikes. Nids’ EM impellers granted superior acceleration and response time compared to obsolete rockets, even enabling a starcrab to reach escape velocity.

Like all known Ynzu units, each Nidulans was equipped with a TC/D drive. The Nids used these faster-than-light drives to launch surprise attacks on target worlds, clearing the way for Claviceps to invade the surface.

Each Nidulans was furnished with a full-immersion cockpit wherein the pilot was suspended in nanite-laden fluid. These naonmachines relayed the pilot’s nerve impulses directly to the Nid’s diamond isomer logic gates, vastly increasing response times over manually piloted CFs. The nanite bath also instantly dissolved the pilot in the event that the space crab was disabled. This failsafe is the official reason why no Ynzu pilot is said to have been captured alive.

See the deadly Nidulans in action in Combat Frame XSeed: S! Read it now!