Mothership

The Mothership is the largest and most powerful Scrin aircraft in Tiberium Wars and Kane's Wrath. 
==Background==
The Scrin Mothership is a rarely-seen superweapon, an ominous and enormous wheel-shaped beam cannon that may also serve as a command hub for Scrin invasion fleets. It moves extremely slowly through the sky, and, upon reaching its destination, releases a jolt of energy capable of utterly destroying anything in an instant. The subsequent chain reaction is capable of leveling entire cities in a single blastJason Bender. 2007-03-20. Command & Conquer 3 Faction Feature -- The Scrin. IGN..
Each Mothership houses a Scrin Foreman, making them possibly the only piloted Scrin units during the entire warCommand & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars manual. Los Angeles, California: Electronic Arts Los Angeles, 2007..
===Encounters===
A Mothership was responsible for the destruction of Berne when the city was attacked by the Scrin. It fired its catalyst cannon at the city center, causing a chain reaction that wiped out much of the city, leaving behind a massive crater.Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. GDI Eyewitness Accounts, "GDI Field Recon - the Fall of Berne".
When GDI forces attempted to drive the aliens out of the city, they responded by attempting to summon the Mothership again using a Signal Transmitter.Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. GDI mission 15: "Berne". This particular Mothership, however, was destroyed in the ensuing battle.
During the Battle of Ground Zero, the Scrin attempted to destroy the GDI base using a Mothership. However, it was possible for the GDI Commander to divert the Mothership to a nearby Nod base instead by destroying their Disruption Tower.Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. GDI mission 17: "Ground Zero".
After the completion of Threshold 19, Foreman 371 escaped Earth through it in his Mothership.Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Scrin mission 4: "Threshold 19".
==Abilities==
Chain reaction (Passive)	Once fired, the Mothership's weapon chain-reacts to any structure within a radius of 300 of a destroyed structure. If that structure is destroyed, the catalyst effect continues to all structures within 300 units of the destroyed structure. Infantry are effected similarly, except that they are only effected if within a range of 100. Vehicles do not transmit the catalyst effect.
==Game Unit==
While their ponderous speed has ensured that many of the small number of these units yet encountered have been destroyed, they are evidently capable of absorbing a tremendous amount of anti-aircraft fire, more than any aircraft ever manufactured by humans. If a Scrin Foreman decides to attack a commander's base, he will guard his emissary of that commander's destruction with high tier units, such as Devastator Warships, Annihilator Tripods, Stormriders, or other assorted units to counter the commander's anti-air defenses. This sheer firepower can severely damage one's anti-air defenses, especially with the fact that Devastator Warships can fire out of range of AA defenses to destroy them. This will pave the way for the Mothership to arrive. All human commanders should beware, and make this unit a priority when defending your base.
In the event that a human commander finds themselves facing one of these behemoths, they have a few strategies they can deploy. Firehawks are recommended for quick and devastating attacks, as their mobility also allows them to dodge many shots fired at them by any escorts that may be nearby, and the Stratofighter upgrade allows them to leave the area before they suffer too much damage. The GDI Slingshot and the Black Hand's Mantis (both added in Kane's Wrath) have the firepower and speed to evade the Mothership's beam and the plasma discs of any nearby Devastator Warships (though, they will inevitable suffer damage should any Stormriders or Planetary Assault Carriers also be nearby, due to the latter two's perfect accuracy). The Slingshot, in particular, can continue firing its AA guns at the Mothership while avoiding the slower shots of any escorts. Stealth tanks also are a viable option, as their speed and optic camouflage technology allows them to evade most opposition until they reach the Mothership and release their massive barrage of rockets.
Once the Mothership is stationed right above its target, it will take a few seconds to charge its beam before firing it at the victim directly underneath it. Should the beam be successfully fired, it is a guaranteed death for whatever target the Mothership has chosen. Any victims of the beam will release a sort of shockwave upon their destruction, and any unit or structure that comes into contact with it will also be destroyed and release their own shockwave. This chain reaction effect often means that, once the beam is fired at any structure (or even unit) close enough to a base, that entire base should be considered lost.
Essentially, the Mothership is a mobile superweapon - but it must be used carefully, otherwise, it will be 5000 credits wasted. It cannot target air units but is massively armoured and has a self repair capacity (though, like all Scrin aircraft, can always be repaired with drones from a Gravity Stabilizer if necessary). Massed aircraft with potent anti air weaponry is the best answer. Being a terror weapon (similar to the Kirov Airship from the Red Alert Universe in many respects), it will likely target mass concentrations of enemy forces (such as bases) before rooting out other targets. This behaviour can be exploited by a tenacious commander. Shooting down a mother ship may bring some material damage to Scrin. As such, should a commander encounter a Mothership, it would be wise to invest in its destruction - not only because of the danger the unit's destructive power poses, but also the economic damage to its Scrin owner.
Like other offensive units, the Mothership can gain veterancy. Doing so reduces the amount of time required to recharge its weapon. However, only the initial target counts towards its experience, not the ones destroyed as part of a chain reaction. Given the difficulty of firing its weapon even once, the number of targets it needs to destroy to level up and the fact it effectively eliminates an opponent each time its weapon is fired, this is not a strategy likely to prove useful in any match. Though it can sometimes rank up by aligning the Mothership's core with a veterancy crate, and then pick up the crate using a ground unit.
Due to their abysmal speed and the length of the beam's alignment time prior to firing, the Mothership's cannon is almost never directly used against units.
All in all, if used correctly, the Mothership can be an extremely powerful asset to a Scrin Foreman's arsenal, and can spell certain doom for any indigenous resisters that happen to remain on planets selected for harvesting operations.
==Changelog==
* Tiberium Wars patch 1.05:
** attack power increased by 100%
** catalyst cannon now causes a faster, wider chain reaction
** units affected by the Mothership's catalyst cannon now lose their explosive properties if teleported via the Teleport Units ability or the wormhole support power
** damage sustained by the Mothership has less impact on the power of its attack.
* Tiberium Wars patch 1.07:
** now takes 8 seconds to deploy over the signal transmitter, where it is un-selectable by the user but can be attacked by opponents
** speed increased by 33%
** weapon chain reaction delay increased by 1 sec
* Tiberium Wars patch 1.08: a related exploit has been fixed
* Kane's Wrath patch 1.02: units will no longer retain the mothership catalyst effect when transported through a wormhole
==Trivia==
* Its weapon bears resemblance to the City Destroyers from the 1996 film Independence Day.
==Gallery==
TW_Mothership_Desktop.jpg|A Mothership destroying Berne
TW_Mothership_Render.jpg|Render
==References==
== See Also ==
* Kirov airship (Red Alert 3 version), a terror weapon of similar capability deployed by the Soviet Union in the alternate Red Alert timeline
Category:Tiberium Wars Scrin support powers
Category:Tiberium Wars aircraft
Category:Epic units