“Surprise tactics are the best kind of tactics, and nothing surprises the enemy more than dropping an entire fucking army on his shrelling head.” - General Riplid Sera Alvok Pelasala Lystheni Manaap, Pan-Helvost Consortium.
A Stymphalian Aerospace design.
Adapted from a hastily drawn up design that was itself based on heavily modified freighters, the modern Behemoth is a collection of numerous ideas consolidated into a single set of schematics. The most influential of these ideas being (unsurprisingly), “we need a way to get our troops from Point A so that they can massacre all the poor bastards at Point B (and then maybe later we can hit up the bar at Point C)”. A massive, barge-like construct the size of a cruiser, the Behemoth is all ablative armour, thrusters, and cargo holds. Capable of moving several thousand infantry at one time, not including armour and gunships, Behemoths serve as transports for national militaries and the larger private armies, as modified carriers, and, with surprisingly little alteration, as colony ships. Troops can be ferried to the battlefield via shuttles or HALO insertion pods, they can disembark on foot (the Behemoth’s comparatively large eezo core allows the ship to land on worlds where the gravity approaches Earth norm), or, in a technique known as “skimming”, simply jump as the transport overflies the drop zone (assuming, of course, that they have been provided the appropriate equipment). The Behemoth has seen increased use in recent times as the realities of contemporary relay travel heavily restrict the availability of reinforcements and the movement of war materiel; any resources that are committed are best done so in bulk.
After signing up with Jehkt-Sana Personnel as a mercenary in 2189, Mekan of Omega shipped out to Ashki with about a thousand other mercenaries on a Behemoth-class transport.
Notes[]
Another update of an oldie, and apparently, when you really think about it, ME ships are fucking enormous.