Cereberus-class Dropship

The Cerberus - named so for it's three bulbed viewscreen up front - is the standard issue American dropship and short haul troop transport. It has adaptable, VTOL style thrusters and is easy to fly in open space and atmosphere both but come unstuck during an attack on the 'undercity' of Yystret IV shortly after it's rollout to the USEF.

 

Up until this mission the Cerberus had a faultless operational record, but the USEF special forces were overconfident in it's ability to operate in the confines of a half-buried city. In reality, the three ships had to drop their troops two klicks from their target and this exposed the SEAL team to enemy fire and a hostile approach. The vessels were fired upon and one crashed whilst trying to remain on station during the mission, whilst the remaining two struggled to reach the landing zone for evacuation.

 

The manufacturers were quick to shift blame onto poor tactical decisions for this outcome but such a warning did little to prevent a slowdown in military orders. The USEF built the mission into their virtual combat training protocols as a challenge for graduating pilots to prevent and escape; most candidates fail and are marked on how well they deal with catastrophe.

 

Several updates were issued to software and hydraulics to improve reliability into the Fourth Age and the Cerberus sees use with the US Marines and some of the boarding and landing forces of the USEF. Although the stock version is unarmed, it is nimble and armoured enough to survive in heavy fire zones with the right type of escort.

Done