In the year 2950, the annual Invictus Week saw the United Earth Empire (UEE) bring together several major ship manufacturers to showcase a highlight reel of their crafts protecting the galaxy from the Vanduul threat, along with a sneak peek at whats to come in the future. Perhaps due to the controversy that they always find themselves in, no less because of their links to interstellar pirates, Drake Interplanetary were this year barred from attending. Does this mean no Cutlass Blue on display? The Herald? The Caterpillar?
If you take yourself down to the Area18 Spaceport and walk to where the unused passenger terminals are, you will find branding for Drake Interplanetary’s own DefenseCon 2950 event. With pro-Drake propaganda blaring throughout the somewhat chic hangar bay, you can explore many of their currently flyable ships, and rent them out as if you were at the Invictus Showroom. Should you walk further through the hall, you can even take a gander at some of their large in-development ships such as the Kraken and Vulture.
The following ships are on display and rentable over the next couple of days:
Buccaneer: A light fighter that sacrifices durability (and ejection seat) for raw firepower.
Caterpillar: A heavy multi-crew commercial freighter. Lightly armed with superior cargo capacity.
Cutlass Black: Back in black. Drake’s pirate-favorite is a highly versatile ship with combat and cargo prowess.
Cutlass Blue: The ship of choice for patrolling thanks to missiles, quantum dampener, and holding cells to the standard model.
Cutlass Red: An emergency response and support ship with a medical bay, long-range radar capabilities, and a suite of defensive options.
Dragonfly Black: A two-seater grav-lev bike that easily traverses rough terrain or open space.
Herald: No secret is safe. Drake’s Herald captures and stores information before leaving at blistering speed.
I would highly recommend if you have the time, popping down to Area18 and checking out some of their crafts – especially the Drake Herald which is a small, data carrier which combines sensitive data racks with exposed wiring.
In development by Cloud Imperium Games and their studios across North America and Europe, Star Citizen is being helmed by Wing Commander (1990s) creator Chris Roberts. The game has currently been in a long-term alpha phase with no confirmed release date. Despite this, the studio has raised more than $265 million USD through on-going crowdfunding. Please keep in mind should you decide to purchase towards Star Citizen, that this is an incomplete project and that you are pledging towards an extended crowdfunding campaign with no 100% guarantee of a finished product.
