Mechs & Spider Tanks

In ChromaSpyke, walking machines are defined by what they are built to do, not by whether they are built for war. Humanity has been industrializing space for a very long time. That means building machines for environments, distances, and workloads far beyond anything an unaugmented human body was designed to handle. Some of those machines fly. Some roll. Others walk.

Mechs and spider tanks exist across ChromaSpyke as a broad family of legged machines built around specific jobs. Some function as personal equipment. Others are vehicle-sized industrial platforms. At the far end of the scale are machines better compared to buildings than to people.

Utility produces form. A mech designed for mobility may use long, lightweight legs capable of crossing uneven terrain or deep water. An industrial machine may sacrifice speed for stability, load-bearing capacity, or the ability to manipulate enormous pieces of material. Spider tanks distribute their weight across multiple legs, making them useful for heavier loads, difficult terrain, security, and warfare.

The existence of a military spider tank does not mean walking machines were invented for combat. As with nearly every useful technology, corporations and militaries eventually found ways to armor them, mount weapons to them, and point them at someone. Even then, scale and purpose vary enormously. A small mech might allow a single worker to move quickly through a sprawling industrial site. A heavier machine might haul, cut, crush, or sort material. Security platforms can use the same basic architecture for enforcement or defense. Military versions may carry armor, heavy weapons, and enough mass to become threats in their own right.

The distinction between mech and spider tank is mostly one of form. Bipedal machines tend to remain closer to the proportions and movement of their operators. Spider tanks distribute their weight across multiple legs and are often better suited to heavier systems.

Like the cybernetics implanted in the settings people, neither mechs nor spiders tanks are especially rare within the universe. Despite that, they may remain a point of excitement, terror, or fascination for someone living in the setting. At larger scales, these machines become reminders of what interstellar civilization is capable of building. Spaceborne industry, ruined cities, extraction operations, orbital infrastructure, and distant colonies create problems that no longer exist at human scale.

If you’d like to encounter mechs and spider tanks in ChromaSpyke fiction, A Star Too Far provides the clearest look at how radically their scale and purpose can vary. Chitterfield features a mech built specifically for the confines of a spaceborne installation, and readers can expect some spider tanks in the upcoming A Star Overwritten.

Now that you’ve been introduced to mechs and spider tanks, continue exploring ChromaSpyke through its cybernetics and other technologies shaped around human labor and survival. Or return to the ChromaSpyke universe page and explore other lore articles.