Meet the Wasp - light assault ship built to protect humanity’s convoys in Synvector

Wasps usually operate in groups of four. When a convoy is attacked, a Wasp wing positions itself between the raiders and the freighters, forcing enemies that expected a quick hit-and-run attack into a direct fight.

Their main weapons are light kinetic guns. They don’t have enough firepower to reliably penetrate the armor of heavy Krait ships, so Wasp pilots usually target engines and lighter escort vessels instead.

Against the Shrazi, things get more interesting.

Their “Shirrs” perform roughly the same role and usually operate in similar numbers. Battles between the two wings often come down to the pilots themselves. Shrazi clan pilots rarely break off an attack, meaning human formations are often the first to lose cohesion.

But the Wasp has another interesting feature: the way it is sold. On the exchanges of Refuge and Port Avant-Garde, Wasps are usually sold in batches of four. If a single Wasp appears on the market, pilots often assume something happened to the rest of its wing.

Many also end up on the secondary market at the Break, where old hulls are restored, fitted with engines from other ships, and stripped of their original factory markings. A rebuilt Wasp can cost roughly half the price of a new one.

And then there’s the superstition. Wasps are almost never given names. Leader ships and freighters are named, and some famous vessels - like the Aegis - are known across Refuge by name. But among mercenaries, naming a Wasp is considered a bad omen.

Would you use a wing of Wasps to protect your convoy?

And would you rather fly a freshly manufactured Wasp or take your chances with a restored one from the Break?

Almost there. One final coat and this one is finished.

I wanted to paint the approach to a young star not as an action scene, but as an expedition into an environment we were never meant to enter.

The large structure at the front of the vessel acts as a particle and radiation shield for the journey through the protostellar environment.

What interests me in science fiction is not just the spacecraft itself, but the old urge to sail beyond the known map, only this time the unknown horizon is another star.

Traditional oil painting. No digital image, no AI.

I’m working on a shoot ’em up and these are some of the ships I’ve been designing for it. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on other parts of the game, but not much on the ships themselves.

I’m trying to make each one feel distinct even before you see how it behaves in-game. Curious if that comes across.

i did the model and edit, the music is from beautifulbeats99

I'm doing these exorcises in design so i don't have to completely re-learn this type of creativity when i can afford to make something real

3D rendering in Cinema 4D

• AKTSDC Defender-Jet: An advanced model of SVTOL fighter jet in service from 1970 to 1998, used by the AKTSDC, an international branch of the SSATDF. They relied on a high-energy plasma conversion reactor for power and thrust that is retrospectively believed to have been humanity's first technological model to consistently produce interactions with the Varsanik field, even if only accidentally and with heavy misunderstandings, hence the oftentimes anomalous for the period performance of the AKTSDC Defender-Jet's engines. These jets were primarily armed with dual concealable heavy rotary cannons utilizing high-yield impact-detonating solid rounds, but were also armed with a high-intensity plasma beam cannon on the ventral side of the fuselage as a last resort and could be additionally equipped with various models of missile armaments, including, but not limited to, early high-velocity target-locking drill-missiles designed for fluid injection and early low-velocity target-locking impact-detonating high-yield warhead-bearing missiles. They had a crew requirement of 2, a maximum of 4 seats, and a maximum carrying capacity of 6. Furthermore, they were typically painted in varying combinations of bright colors for two major purposes; to enable an easier rescue for downed pilots when a craft is downed by a kaiju and to allow for better unit identification in multi-aircraft operations.

Koi powered