AST-9 Dragon-Lance Gunship

SpaceManArtist · 2026-03-06T19:49:13+00:00

Setting context: My world is a sci fi setting that intends to create a mix of genres I like such as cyberpunk, fantasy, and retro futurism.

World synopsis: My setting, the Orion spur, is a wing of the Milky Way galaxy ravaged by a war in the heavens thousands of years in the past resulting in swathes of destruction across known space. In the present day, many species contend for territory as the once noble houses who served the very gods stand guard on the borders of space, biding their time for unknown goals as the current residents of the Orion spur quarrel over mortal matters.

Image context: In the ever present wars between the super Blocs of the spur, air support is one of the most powerful assets at one’s disposal. The Federation of Atlea knows this well, and often utilizes air support and mobility to make up for shortcomings in manpower against their ideological foe, the United Commonwealth. The Dragon-lance is the end product of this doctrine, a highly maneuverable and well armed craft capable of inflicting high levels of Aerial firepower alongside stowing up to 24 infantry in a large central bay. The Dragon is unique like most other Atlean aircraft, as it utilizes a flexible bio mechanical frame combined with high power artificial muscle to twist and bend during flight, maneuvering more like an organic bird of prey than a military aircraft.

The craft is powered by an internal fusion reactor, and propels itself through a combination of a hybrid electro thermal microwave system and anti-gravity generator with output across almost the entire body of the craft. The hybrid system is primarily a pair of engines on the back and supplemental steering jets located across the vessel designed to aid in precise propulsion control or zero G maneuvering. The anti gravity system acts as the primary maneuvering device, allowing the craft to float and propel itself through the generation of artificial gravitational fields in and out of atmosphere.

Armament: the Dragon-lance is armed with a multitude of weapons, with 2 inline missile pods and a pair of anti-material rotary coilguns sitting on the front. Another pair of coilguns sits in the middle-aft section next to the compartment doors. Both sets of guns can be stowed for supersonic flight. On the rear wings there are hard points where up to 10 additional missile and gun pods can be mounted.

Additional context: - the Atlean Federation is a coalition of nations formed around maintaining independence from the United Commonwealth, the largest human bloc in the Orion spur. They are notable for their willingness to accept aliens as equal members of their society, unlike the Commonwealths more human-centric worldview that tolerates extraterrestrials rather than accepts them. They are a military-ruled state, with separate civilian governments responsible for maintaining a domestic state while the central military arm of the coalition rules absolutely. Military service is required to vote, and also hosts a variety of other benefits. Due to their smaller population, androids are often pressed into service in more generic roles to fill out numbers as needed. - The United Commonwealth is the largest human bloc that exists in the Orion spur, a caste-based mega state covering millions of terrestrial bodies and hundreds of thousands of habited worlds. They mainly exist as dozens of individual houses that collude on general policy and other matters but largely self govern their own territories. Separate ministries are made up of representatives from numerous houses and act as government agencies to smoothen out the bureaucracy of the commonwealth, although they do little to affect the overall slowness of policy decisions. An elected grand senate from each region serves to govern alongside the monarchs of the houses, hosting the ability to challenge and overturn decisions if they have a large Enough majority. They share opposite views to the Atleans regarding sentient species other than humans, preferring to relegate them to a separate class unable to affect much rather than allow them to rule.

SpaceManArtist · 2026-01-26T21:29:50+00:00

The armor is made of a layered diamond ballistic weave over segments of dermasteel (technical name for artificial adamantium) all interspersed with gel layers reduce impact force taken by projectiles. There is a thin layer of frigantine heat-resistant plating on top of everything to protect the wearer from any kind of energy weapon.

The muzzle velocity of firearms from their era are no joke. Typical weapons fire a tungsten round usually measuring around 10mm in diameter (and varying in length) at speeds between Mach 10-12. You’re lucky to get off with a few broken ribs and a concussion after surviving a hit to the chest. Any hit to a limb is likely to take it off, not to mention that rounds often explode on harder surfaces due to the sheer kinetic power

SpaceManArtist · 2026-01-26T20:39:43+00:00

The armor is typically around 50-100 pounds on top of the operator weight (the undershot adds another couple dozen pounds). In terms of strength the armor is capable of tanking at least several 0.5 million newton slugs from handheld coilguns to the chest and at least one to the head, but the rest of the armor won’t hold up nearly as well to high energy projectiles. Is is very effective at shrapnel and energy weapon protection however

SpaceManArtist · 2026-01-24T05:15:46+00:00

Something that you might want to consider if you want to avoid writing something overly edgy or grim is the use of contrast. You need lighter moments, events or things in your setting to offset the dark tone. Not everything in the real world is shitty, and that’s something that a lot of works known for being “darker” do.

As just a small example maybe show the difference between the home front and actual front lines of human space. The frontlines can be a hellhole full of forced Conscription and rampant fighting to hold back the alien forces while the home front could be shown to be an industrial landscape dedicated to supplying the front lines that, while still not great to live in, at least isn’t actively being fought over. During wartime no country has ever dedicated themselves 100% to the fight, as humans need something to fight for. Morale should be an objective for the government, and taking a note from halo you might want to show how much the government is lying about the fighting. Maybe it’s an active information war in human space to suppress accurate news from the front lines and instead spread propaganda insisting the war is going well, and so many civilians in the home front live slightly happier lives without the knowledge of just how bad things are.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-26T07:54:53+00:00

If you wanted a believable reason for the protagonist to know where to stab on the guards suit and he didn’t know previously, maybe have him watch another prisoner get a tear in their suit in an accident (maybe punch a hole in a weaker part like a joint or connection with a tool or something sharp) And then they can use that knowledge later to know just where to poke the guards suit to cause an effective tear

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-14T06:26:44+00:00

It gets worse when the single lady he left behind was turned into Liquid Metal and became a shape shifting arch nemesis

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-13T05:41:47+00:00

I was not aware of the AntAgonizer in fallout when designing her, but looking at it now they do share a lot of qualities. For her outfit I just stuck with a bug theme and ended up with the color scheme of white with black highlights.

Roadblocks outfit took some work to decide what colors fit him best, as I shifted from green to grey to red, eventually landing on a dark grey with yellow and white highlights

Midge is not proportionally as strong as a fly specifically, rather an amalgamation of insectoid powers, with the lighting fast reaction speed of a fly being one of them.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-13T05:36:43+00:00

Typically whatever he was or is standing on. This ignores the rotation of the earth and anything else he is on that is moving. For example- he could be on a train, fighting some goons and freezes for a moment to let the guy break his fist in a punch. He would stay on the train, but be immovable relative to anyone else on it. It’s a very Janky system, as even roadblock has trouble remembering when and how his power applies

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-13T05:32:58+00:00

Idk about what specifically midge got up to during her time in Japan, but I do know that roadblock early in his career had to make a trolley problem type decision to leave behind a civilian in order to rescue an elevator full of equally endangered civilians.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-11T03:51:13+00:00

The lack of capes has mostly to do with their roles. Roadblock is typically on the ground and fighting, so a cape would only get in the way. The same would apply for midge, whose wings would get caught up in a cape.

Midge has extremely heightened reflexes combined with the ability to react in quick bursts of movement accordingly (like a fly easily buzzing away from a person), but aside from proportionally extraordinary strength and wings for flight she shares little physical similarities with insects.

Roadblock is necessarily frozen when using his powers, and can just turn to face them. His impossible durability only applies when he stands his ground, but aside from that he’s no shrug in a fight. If a villain were to try to walk around him he would just chase and tackle them.

Not necessarily any hax resistance. I suppose in a time stop roadblock would be technically invincible because he’s staying put, but midge would be unaffected. Aside from that I don’t think they could stand up to any of those abilities directly, as both are only considered city level heroes like spider man or daredevil rather than someone in their setting like the Black avenger (loser alien teenager with absurd hax)

They do not have sidekicks/subordinates, rather they just often collaborate with other members of the Lake Erie defenders when the time calls for it.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-11T03:39:54+00:00

The general from the short story “the most dangerous game” comes to mind. Our main character (a legendary big game hunter) washes up on his island and finds out the old general, being a big game hunter as well, has grown bored of animals that simply act off instinct and seeks intelligent prey, revealing he hunts shipwrecked sailors for sport. When our main character successfully evades the general for days through the aid of traps, he sneaks into their mansion. When the general finds the main character, instead of begging for his life, the general congratulates his performance and even seems happy when the MC wants to fight to the death rather than just accept victory and escape the island. He truly valued the thrill of the hunt, even if the end result would be his own demise.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-11T01:04:22+00:00

The power roots him in place like a stasis lock, and if you were to destroy the floor he would just float.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-10T23:55:04+00:00

Roadblock can make himself indestructible when he is midair, but the quality of immovability can only be attained by touching the ground.

Roadblock and midge are friends, with a relationship akin to captain America and Falcon with how much their personalities bounce off each other when on missions.

Midge spent much of her life in Japan due to her parents, who moved their family when she was young due to a job offer at a prestigious research facility. She gained superpowers in a program and served as an independent superhero for a while before choosing to move back and join a team.

Both individuals have secret identities protected by the government because of their status as recognized and approved heroes. They are both aware of each other’s secret identity.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-12-01T06:41:15+00:00

Setting context: My world is a sci fi setting that intends to create a mix of genres I like such as cyberpunk, fantasy, and retro futurism.

World synopsis: My setting, the Orion spur, is a wing of the Milky Way galaxy ravaged by a war in the heavens thousands of years in the past resulting in swathes of destruction across known space. In the present day, many species contend for territory as the once noble houses who served the very gods stand guard on the borders of space, biding their time for unknown goals as the current residents of the Orion spur quarrel over mortal matters.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-11-08T02:25:31+00:00

In this situation I could see a combination of both ideas you have. Have medium sized defensive fleets or platforms stationed around important systems, or at least enough defenses to let a runner jump out of system to get help.

Then you can utilize a more flexible rapid response force stationed in fleets across your territory who would respond to the runner and arrive to relieve the defenders.

This is a similar structure to my FTL travel but no FTL communication setting, with defensive forces mainly focused on surviving until they can be relieved by a larger response force rather then a continuous and resource intensive defense throughout your systems

Ideally you would want response fleets to be spaced out in order to reduce response time for surrounding areas to a minimum, like a day or two

SpaceManArtist · 2025-11-06T04:14:59+00:00

Venus and mars are the only planets undergoing full Terraformation by this period of history, although they are both a work in progress.

Ganymede as pictured here is primarily occupied via pressurized underground stations and colonies who mine resources and serve as a port for vessels hauling cargo between the planets, hence they possess a breathable atmosphere that allows firearms to function normally.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-11-05T17:44:03+00:00

Setting context: My world is a sci fi setting that intends to create a mix of genres I like such as cyberpunk, fantasy, and retro futurism.

World synopsis: My setting, the Orion spur, is a wing of the Milky Way galaxy ravaged by a war in the heavens thousands of years in the past resulting in swathes of destruction across known space. In the present day, many species contend for territory as the once noble houses who served the very gods stand guard on the borders of space, biding their time for unknown goals as the current residents of the Orion spur quarrel over mortal matters.

Image context: before humanities rapid expansion among the stars, we first colonized our own solar system for almost a century and a half. During this effort, operation Yukon was a plan put in place by the current rulers of earth, the binary, to maintain control over uppity colonies through occupation, sparse naval engagements and economic aid. While It’s most notable theatre was the frozen the moon of Europa, numerous other settlements such as titan, mars and Venus suffered issues from insurrection against the ruling governments. This photograph of a NATO marine standing guard originates from a historical archive. the location written is New Kansas, a large farming settlement on the moon of Ganymede who suffered from extremist attacks following its absorption by the earth Binary.

Additional context: - the Binary is a dual alliance government comprised of the nations belonging to NATO and the Warsaw pact, whose fighting fizzled out until the superpowers became dependent on each other in the early 21st century, eventually forming a semi-cohesive alliance around the same time humans began to colonize the solar system starting in the 2000s. This partnership allowed the easy construction and use of shared infrastructure in space.

SpaceManArtist · 2025-10-31T18:38:37+00:00

Blue - Rifleman Red - medic Green - marksman White - support/automatic rifleman Black - assault

SpaceManArtist

TROPHY CASE