Ok, here we go with the Wyrm lore update, as well as some more renders of the textured model. Instead of the customary ingame stills, I will take some more time to get those action shots (weapon and ability particle effects still need to be done, as well as sounds) and then I'll post them here.
In the meantime:
Wyrm Elite Battleship
Background:
The Wyrm is one of a kind ship. Although classed as an elite battleship, this vessel is far more than that. It is in fact the first fully sentient ship the Xin have ever produced, capable of functioning independently from its crew if the need arises and even making advanced strategic and tactical choices if cut off from the main chain of command.
This ship also boasts some of the most powerful offensive and defensive systems the Xin have available, largely due to the advanced Genome III sequencing which has only lately surfaced in frontline Xin forces. The only other example of Genome III biotechnology currently known to be used by the Xin is the awe-inspiring Leviathan class Titan.
The Wyrm owes its awesome firepower to the new, improved version of the Singularity Engine used aboard all Xin vessels. This Engine far surpasses its previous capital grade iteration, having an allmost double energy output. In fact, so much energy is produced by the Singularity nestled deep within the bowels of the ship that the Xin engineers had to come up with an effective way of venting excess energy out of the ship or else risk literally boiling the vessel and its crew alive. This was accomplished by a simple yet practical method of thermal radiation. The Power-Data Transferrence Highway, commonly referred to as the "spine" is a massive collumn of conduits designed to transfer both the gigantic amounts of power needed to drive the ship engines and the information necessary to control them. During the transfer, the power conduits are designed to overheat, reaching allmost white-hot temperatures within seconds of the Singularity Engine activation and remaining so throughout the ship's lifespan. Extra energy is conveniently stored within the capacitor modules which can power the ship for a time even in the case of a catastrophic engine failure.
The defensive systems include the customary segmented armor shell, this time mounted on the extra couple of meters of alloyed chitin, and powerful deflector shield arrays spaced around the vital areas of the ship.
Weapon systems include the unifocal electron particle beam mounted at the front of the vessel, where the eight plasma tracker launchers are also mounted. The Wyrm can also gestate plasmid Slicers and use them indiscriminately against all enemy vessels, as well as use the awesome energy output of its Engine to generate a short-lived (relatively) singularity which can then be propelled at large or stationary objects. The singularity is only a few centimeters in diameter, but is potentially capable of destroying even the largest of targets, given enough time. For point defense, the Wyrm boasts six plasma cannon pods, three on each side, as well as a limited number of dreaded Universal Combat Drones, which can perform both as a bomber and as a fighter.
Needless to say, this elite ship comes with an elite price. Xin commanders will need a well established mineral and crystal processing operation as well as a number of critical research projects performed before they can unleash this terror upon their enemies. However, once they have it out in the field, few enemies will survive the encounter with this dangerous predator.