Phoenix Logs/Banished Units/Skitterer

Fast scout walker and escort.

Skitterer units are mechanized scouts piloted by Lekgolo. They are cheap,

expendable vehicles, and their twin-linked beam cannons are surprisingly lethal

for a vehicle of this size. Their most notable feature is that they can use a

defend ability to set up a protective overwatch on other friendly units and act

as a weapon turret and defense shield, increasing the health of the attached

unit as well as providing additional firepower. Most units can have at least one

Skitterer attached, including infantry and aircraft. The defensive link cannot be

undone during a mission.

The harsh restrictions on AI research in the Covenant limited the development of

autonomous weapon systems, though clever San’Shyuum technicians did

find that carefully selected and pruned Lekgolo colonies could substitute for

artificial minds in some applications. Though never widely used, combat

machines such as the Skitterer proved this approach had merit, though the risk

of aberrant gestalts in small colonies meant it never saw widespread use.

Colony has adapted and perfected this technique, which allows for the

integration of Lekgolo with the Banished Locust and mass production of

Skitterers without the behavioral issues that plagued earlier work.