Project Fobos

## Introduction

**Project Fobos** is the name given to a Mecharussian hypersoldier programme devised by Grand Curatrix Elena Trotskaya, Supreme Marshal Anzhela Sokolova and Drakolich to create a type of purely-mechanical warrior with the capabilities of mind-transfer, intended as a testbed for Projects Echidna (AC) and Erinyes (MC). Once the objectives of the two E-projects were fulfilled, it was decided to utilise the 'Fobosians' as heavily-armoured robotic assassins to fill a niche left behind when the Chthonians and their 'Novaya' descendants were upgraded to commander status, the Diomedians were tailored for bodyguard purposes and eldritch entity-hunters and the Betelgeuse robot soldiers would eventually form the basis of the 1K60 infantry droids that would compose the backbone of the Mecharussian Armed Forces.

Fobos was commenced in 2154 with the inception of Volkov (see right), who was intended to hunt down and terminate Fred Harrigan. Although he ultimately failed and was himself destroyed, his creators were so impressed with his performance that they went ahead with the construction of three more of his kind - Antonov, Belov and Chekhov.

## Existing Fobos soldiers

As of 2172, there are three existing Fobos personalities:

* **Antonov** is designed to defeat Nexonic viroblooded supersoldiers, who are vulnerable to flame and plasma-based attacks. As a result, he is outfitted almost entirely with incendiary weapons: two fusion blades on his arms, a plasma torch on his left arm and napalm grenade launchers on his right. He is also outfitted with a number of anti-poisons and cleansing nanite pods designed to neutralise and eliminate any biological threat from the Nexus that he and the soldiers alongside whom he fights may face, and like his two brothers, he is extremely tough and capable of self-resurrection.
* **Belov** is designed to destroy or capture Sidh Imperial Judicators. His fighting style is more focused on stealth and endurance, creeping up behind the enemy with full cloaking and portal-jamming enabled and surprising them, an almost-infallible method of taking a Judicator captive: he does this using a tesseract labyrinth, an unstable gateway to a tiny, prison-like pocket dimension, built into his chest. He is even more heavily-armoured than his brothers, his modus operandi being weathering whatever the Judicator can throw at him and allowing them to tire themselves or succumb to injury, at which point they become an easy target to terminate or seize. Two foldable spiked shields on his arms, an ion shotgun on his right arm, a cryo blaster on his left and a powerful EMP generator in his helmet make short work of almost any target.
* **Chekhov** is, contrary to his brothers, designed as a *counter*-assassination tool. Built to serve as the bodyguard of Grand Curatrix Elena Trotskaya, his arsenal is much more well-rounded to defeat the variety of threats faced by his mistress, armed with twin fusion blades on his arms, an antipersonnel ion repeater, a psionic circuit-breaker and an anti-vehicle guided plasma launcher. He is also the only Fobos hypersoldier to possess a sophisticated medical kit and programming on how to use it, in case his charge is harmed in a fight. Over the many years of his service, he becomes deeply attached to Trotskaya, almost like a loyal guard dog, and he never, ever leaves her side. Wherever the Red Tigress treads, Chekhov will always be close behind, ready to dive into battle to protect her at any second.
* Plans have been made to create two other Fobosians: **Dobrov**, a dedicated psyker-killer, and **Evanov**, who is to replace the last surviving Diomedians as an eldritch entity-hunter. Both are projected to enter service in 2175.

## Notable Appearances

* Volkov makes an appearance in *Operation Fobos*, so far the only canonical appearance of the Fobosian hypersoldiers.

## Trivia

* Each Fobosian soldier resembles an Adeptus Astartes Terminator from *Warhammer 40,000*. This is also a subtle reference to the *Terminator* franchise, with the Fobosians bearing many similarities to the assassin robots portrayed therein.