Hide and Seek in the Asteroidfield by Euderion on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on."

--William Shakespeare, The Tempest

Quick one with the Tempest, the Hero ship from Mass Effect Andromeda, made for todays N7 Day.

The Andromeda Initiative Survey Ship Tempest is a 95,2 meter long unarmed scout ship used by the Pathfinder team to explore various worlds across the Heleus Cluster in the hope of finding suitable homes and resources for Milky Way colonists in the Andromeda galaxy. Between missions, Tempest is the Pathfinder team's home, and everything in it is state of the art.

The Tempest was originally one of several purpose-built ships for each Ark's Pathfinder team. The Salarian Kallo Jath was part of the team that designed and tested the Tempest and its prototype. When the Nexus struck the Scourge after arriving in the Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy, the other Pathfinder ships were destroyed, making the Tempest one of a kind. Before the arrival of the human Ark Hyperion, Nexus leadership had planned to dismantle the Tempest for its parts, but provisioner Vetra Nyx protected the ship.

Owing to both the Citadel Council's restrictions on civilian vessels bearing military-grade weaponry, and the Initiative's own emphasis on peaceful exploration, the Tempest completely lacks any external armaments such as torpedo launchers or mass accelerator cannons. Heavy armour and a main gun were traded in the design phase for a vessel that is small, stealthy and fast, capable of both interstellar exploration and subtle infiltration in equal measure. With an IES (internal emission sink) stealth system derived from the technology first employed by the Systems Alliance ship SSV Normandy, the Tempest can remain hidden from most forms of detection, while its superior speed and maneuverability make it easily able to evade any pursuing vessels should its presence be discovered.

The ship's engine is based on the arks' ODSY drive, recycling static energy buildup to power her systems. It took technicians weeks to miniaturize the design for the Tempest. The Tempest is capable of covering 13 lightyears per day making it one of the fastest spaceships. The spirit and purpose of this powerful engine was inspired by an early 20th century aircraft, the SR-71 Blackbird. This too was an unarmed stealth scout, equipped with a superior engine that allowed to evade enemy fire by simply flying away should it be spotted.

The Tempest is virtually invisible to long-range sensors, allowing it to operate even behind enemy lines. The IES stealth system is military grade hardware provided by the Systems Alliance, although the Andromeda Initiative had to pledge not to use it in the Milky Way. This was one of the few concessions the Systems Alliance made when asked to add weapons to the Tempest. This was forbidden in Citadel space, out of concern that a new Cerberus para-military group might form here (which started out similarly) and as a gesture of goodwill the Systems Alliance sponsored the stealth system instead.

In addition to her primary role as a scout ship, the Tempest is capable of operating as a science ship. She has capable depth scan sensors and onboard science facilities to further investigate possible discoveries made by the Pathfinder team on site. This is helpful in that the Tempest does not have to interrupt its mission to bring research data back to base, as is typically the case with Systems Alliance military scout ships.

The Tempest was named after William Shakespeares eponymous piece "The Tempest". Tempests Lead designer Lucille Diawara was a Shakespeare Fan and after she broke her back during construction officials choose this name to honor her.

Rendered in 3d Max 10
Post Work in Paint Shop Pro 7
Tempest Model provided by ShaunsArtHouse
Mass Effect & Mass Effect Andromeda is (c) by Bioware & EA

More Mass Effect Andromeda artworks: