Biological Tanks
A species category of engineered organism that consisted of a crew, a large, cannon-like organ and heavy armour. Engineered by the UAC for the Hyperion Federation military.
These 'biological tanks', as the Hyperion Federation has become to know them, originated on the planet of Mauluo. Due to the more open nature of that planet compared to either Panagia or Binary Targos, this would be the most likely world to introduce such a species.
Much like bioships, biotanks started off with digestive tracts and very bad morale. This caused many tanks to enter war with no willing crews. Tank interiors were wet, dark, hot (due to the tank's body heat) and sometimes could contain hazardous microbes, causing infection. As such, morale improvements became a priority with tank design, and crew chambers gained some advanced conditioning units keeping it dry and cool and allowing more air flow. They are also cleaned by specialised purposed organisms when not in use, removing most of the microbes. Though they couldnt prevent the digestive tracts from making sound, they could reduce the amount of sound that reached the crew quarters, and this sound wasnt likely to be heard by any forces far away. The crew quarter thus received additional padding preventing some of the sound from reaching the crew.
Mobility
They varied significantly in how they travelled, but very few would be able to fly. Most traversed the ground through a large number of thick legs to evenly transfer all the weight of the organism over a large area of ground. Every leg would need to be excellently coordinated due to the sheer number of legs, so to make traversal easier to communicate for the crew the part of the tank's brain that managed this was designed in an intuitive way for Harkas to interact with. They only need to give the tank commands on where it needed to move, and the tank would shortly figure out a way to get there if possible.
Firepower
The primary armament for such organisms would typically come in the form of a large organ similar to a cannon. The tank itself would reload the weapon, so although there was no loader required the tank would still often reload faster than a crew member loader could produce. In most tanks, a large, shell-like symbiotic organism was placed in the 'breech' before the area behind it was filled with an explosive compound produced and stored in a gland close to the breech. Upon the crew's command, a bioelectric spark would detonate the explosives, causing the shell to be fired. This would produce massive temperatures that no organism would survive directly, so they often also needed to water-cool the barrel and blood which would result in the tank consuming a lot of water. To better manage heat, the barrel and breech are usually made of a highly rigid, chitin-like material. However, as the Harki became very advanced, they began adopting railgun-like weapons and even plasma cannons, the latter of which would require a completely different mechanism of fire. There would be more examples.
One particularly popular gunpowder-like chemical they could produce was a form of nitrocellulose based smokeless gunpowder. This could be produced from cellulose using nitric and sulfuric acids. This was a fairly advanced form of explosive compund, but over time the explosive would improve, eventually a plasma-like compund was developed that was very efficient and could propel a round to extreme velocities almost like quark-gluon plasma.
Most biological tanks had an excellent sense of hearing, preventing almost all ambush attempts. Their eyes came in a number of different forms. One of them, usually located directly under the barrel, would serve the purpose of aiming the barrel. It would be able to zoom to extreme depths to provide superior accuracy at very long range.
Protection
A similar material would often comprise the armour, although exact composition may very depending on which weapon it was designed to block. A notable advantage of making the entire thing biological was that it would be imposible to knock out the engine as there is no central organ that produces all the immediate power; as that is done via the ATP in the blood. One could destroy its digestive organs, but it would be able to retreat. If it manages to return to its base, the Harkas engineers might be able to repair the damage.
The crew would enter the vehicle via a large hatch on the top. They all shared a room near the rear of the tank. This was to protect them from enemy fire, and especially the gland that produces gunpowder would be especially explosive in particular. This gland is usually designed in a way to deflect any potential explosions away from the tank. The crew would come in the form of a driver, gunner and commander. However, they would all be trained to use the stations of other roles, in case some of the crew were lost. The entire vehicle could be operated by a single individual, but that would be inefficient in a similar way as trying to pilot a mechanical tank with a crew of 1. The crew compartment organ was usually also sealed in the chitin-like material like the armour. The harakas focused on crew protection.
As tanks could scavenge energy from battlefields by eating dead soldiers and purposed organisms, they were much easier to maintain and sustain during war than during peace times. However, as technology advanced, more efficient methods of energy generation were found. They became powered through antimatter, similar to other tanks and starships, and the tanks lost their digestive tracts. They would obtain nutrients by drinking matter plasma which they incorporate into their blood. Modern biotanks are very similar to mechanical tanks, much like their spacefaring counterparts, bioships. Some groups have even made fully autonomous, sentient biotanks which have no crew. Like Freelancers, they have dismantled their crew chambers to make room for more organs. These few biotanks have become grim reapers of destruction, devastating anything they come across, often while hidden. Electricity is generated through the use of some very advanced electrocytes which act as organic batteries, but engineered very effectively, they can rival the strength and certainty of machines. This can be used to manipulate plasma through electromagnetism, and to ionise particles which allow particularly advanced biotanks to fire projectiles of heated plasma. They also often have secondary weapons as well, like lasers designed to neutralise infantry.
These 'biological tanks', as the Hyperion Federation has become to know them, originated on the planet of Mauluo. Due to the more open nature of that planet compared to either Panagia or Binary Targos, this would be the most likely world to introduce such a species.
Much like bioships, biotanks started off with digestive tracts and very bad morale. This caused many tanks to enter war with no willing crews. Tank interiors were wet, dark, hot (due to the tank's body heat) and sometimes could contain hazardous microbes, causing infection. As such, morale improvements became a priority with tank design, and crew chambers gained some advanced conditioning units keeping it dry and cool and allowing more air flow. They are also cleaned by specialised purposed organisms when not in use, removing most of the microbes. Though they couldnt prevent the digestive tracts from making sound, they could reduce the amount of sound that reached the crew quarters, and this sound wasnt likely to be heard by any forces far away. The crew quarter thus received additional padding preventing some of the sound from reaching the crew.
Mobility
They varied significantly in how they travelled, but very few would be able to fly. Most traversed the ground through a large number of thick legs to evenly transfer all the weight of the organism over a large area of ground. Every leg would need to be excellently coordinated due to the sheer number of legs, so to make traversal easier to communicate for the crew the part of the tank's brain that managed this was designed in an intuitive way for Harkas to interact with. They only need to give the tank commands on where it needed to move, and the tank would shortly figure out a way to get there if possible.
Firepower
The primary armament for such organisms would typically come in the form of a large organ similar to a cannon. The tank itself would reload the weapon, so although there was no loader required the tank would still often reload faster than a crew member loader could produce. In most tanks, a large, shell-like symbiotic organism was placed in the 'breech' before the area behind it was filled with an explosive compound produced and stored in a gland close to the breech. Upon the crew's command, a bioelectric spark would detonate the explosives, causing the shell to be fired. This would produce massive temperatures that no organism would survive directly, so they often also needed to water-cool the barrel and blood which would result in the tank consuming a lot of water. To better manage heat, the barrel and breech are usually made of a highly rigid, chitin-like material. However, as the Harki became very advanced, they began adopting railgun-like weapons and even plasma cannons, the latter of which would require a completely different mechanism of fire. There would be more examples.
One particularly popular gunpowder-like chemical they could produce was a form of nitrocellulose based smokeless gunpowder. This could be produced from cellulose using nitric and sulfuric acids. This was a fairly advanced form of explosive compund, but over time the explosive would improve, eventually a plasma-like compund was developed that was very efficient and could propel a round to extreme velocities almost like quark-gluon plasma.
Most biological tanks had an excellent sense of hearing, preventing almost all ambush attempts. Their eyes came in a number of different forms. One of them, usually located directly under the barrel, would serve the purpose of aiming the barrel. It would be able to zoom to extreme depths to provide superior accuracy at very long range.
Protection
A similar material would often comprise the armour, although exact composition may very depending on which weapon it was designed to block. A notable advantage of making the entire thing biological was that it would be imposible to knock out the engine as there is no central organ that produces all the immediate power; as that is done via the ATP in the blood. One could destroy its digestive organs, but it would be able to retreat. If it manages to return to its base, the Harkas engineers might be able to repair the damage.
The crew would enter the vehicle via a large hatch on the top. They all shared a room near the rear of the tank. This was to protect them from enemy fire, and especially the gland that produces gunpowder would be especially explosive in particular. This gland is usually designed in a way to deflect any potential explosions away from the tank. The crew would come in the form of a driver, gunner and commander. However, they would all be trained to use the stations of other roles, in case some of the crew were lost. The entire vehicle could be operated by a single individual, but that would be inefficient in a similar way as trying to pilot a mechanical tank with a crew of 1. The crew compartment organ was usually also sealed in the chitin-like material like the armour. The harakas focused on crew protection.
As tanks could scavenge energy from battlefields by eating dead soldiers and purposed organisms, they were much easier to maintain and sustain during war than during peace times. However, as technology advanced, more efficient methods of energy generation were found. They became powered through antimatter, similar to other tanks and starships, and the tanks lost their digestive tracts. They would obtain nutrients by drinking matter plasma which they incorporate into their blood. Modern biotanks are very similar to mechanical tanks, much like their spacefaring counterparts, bioships. Some groups have even made fully autonomous, sentient biotanks which have no crew. Like Freelancers, they have dismantled their crew chambers to make room for more organs. These few biotanks have become grim reapers of destruction, devastating anything they come across, often while hidden. Electricity is generated through the use of some very advanced electrocytes which act as organic batteries, but engineered very effectively, they can rival the strength and certainty of machines. This can be used to manipulate plasma through electromagnetism, and to ionise particles which allow particularly advanced biotanks to fire projectiles of heated plasma. They also often have secondary weapons as well, like lasers designed to neutralise infantry.
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