Phönix Arms Industries

Phönix is the result of the onus of blame being placed on a number of old Terran defense contractors and continually losing sales on their homeworld. It supplies primarily (comparatively) cheap, if antiquated, guns, armor, and small-sized vehicles and aircraft. Its corporate headquarters is located on Qaela, but manufacturing often takes place outside of the system on frontier worlds with cheaper labor costs. They also run the STALLION PMC as a subsidiary, who act primarily and officially as asset protection for their own goods.

## History

Phönix was formed as a result of a mass conglomeration of Terra-based defense contractors who saw major losses in business after the Unification War, following their ostracisation by the SSG and the public.

Despite teething issues with funding and executive disagreement (to say the least), Phönix found their success in the lawless sector that was to become the Renegade Quadrant. Despite their arms not being the best around, and their nonexistant lines of plasma and laser weaponry, they were seen as reliable enough for small militias, fledgling PMCs and bands of pirates to pick up and use against whatever poor sod they had targeted.

### STALLION

STALLION was the PMC subsidiary of Phönix that was formed some time in the 2370's, mainly for the protection of their own factories and shipments that were located in and around lawless territory. Unlike many guns for hire, STALLION attempts to avoid attracting ire from stronger forces in the galaxy, and thus don't accept clandestine job offers. Contracts then near exclusively pertain to guarding VIPs, shipments, or facilities. Occasionally dealing with the odd pirate band, too.

Their equipment is virtually entirely by Phönix's armories, their most common uniform consisting of the Armadillo Gen V. Full Body System, with their logo of a rampaging horse emblazoned in white across the central kevlar plate. Pirates often joke about how the logo makes for a good target to aim at.

## Equipment

### Armadillo Series

Phönix currently produces the Gen III, IV, and V series of Armadillo Full Body Armour Systems. The Gen III is comprised of a full set of dense polymer plates overlaid on top of a simple fabric BDU. While the plates do provide good protection against a couple of kinetic shots, they are brittle, and can prone to breaking after a couple hits. It can stand up well against laser shots, but plasma can melt right through. Gen IV updated the design with the replacing of the abdominal plate with a kevlar plate, aiming to provide a sturdier protection against multiple hits in center mass, though they tend to fare very poorly against energy weaponry. The Gen IV's BDU was also given a kevlar weave for better protection overall for the user. The Gen V is mostly iterative on the Gen IV, its most notable changes being in greater limb protection by the plates, a wider FOV for the helmet, and a better system of modularity for plates so they are more easily removed than the Gen IV's.

### Rattlesnake Assault Drone

The Rattlesnake is a small, tracked drone that measures four feet in length and comes to around the average man's knee in height. With a simplistic control system and a 12.7mm rotary gun that fires kinetic slug rounds, the Rattlesnake is designed as an effective and expendable method of suppressing and gunning down enemy forces. Its small size and stature make it most suited for indoor combat and sentry duty, as its relatively slow speed, turning radius, and flimsiness are most apparent in an open skirmish.

### Anaconda Siege Drone

The Anaconda is a large, bipedal drone that stands at about 12 feet tall and is bristling with weaponry and armour. Its twin-camera system allows the operator to keep an eye in front of the mech whilst the 'head' gives them an additional 360 degree field of view. Its equipment includes a long, anti-armor railgun, as well as a top-mounted missile launcher and a top-mounted grenade launcher. While its role as a sentry and heavy attack drone is filled very well, its weaponry is not refittable, leaving it vulnerable to infantry threat. Its cameras are also not as well-armoured, meaning a couple of well-placed shots can blind the Anaconda.

### Wolfspider APC

The Wolfspider, named for its silhouette, is an 8-wheeled APC that can carry a total of 18 men plus 4 crewmem. Packing a 40mm rotary cannon on top and side door-guns, the Wolf-spider is also able to fill a light anti-armor and anti-personnel role, as well as rapid troop transport. Whilst the vehicle is actually of quite a high standard compared to many other Phönix products, its unusual, large size and shape make the otherwise solid vehicle a large target.

### Puma Tank

The Puma is a relatively small tank, about the size of, and heavily reminiscent of 20th century Terran tank designs. The vehicle is armed with a 10cm kinetic cannon on its turret, as well as a top-mounted 12.7mm machine gun for anti-personnel support, and armoured by two layers of titanium-reactive armor. Whilst small, and not particularly well-armed or armoured in comparison to other tanks on the market, the Puma's lightning speed and small stature make it best suited to rapid-response and outmaneuvering of the enemy.

### Tarantula Light Assault Mech

The Tarantula is a fairly small, single-operator mech, which stands at about 14-feet tall. Whilst not as advanced, large or mobile as mechs from the Kanad Collective or Upyri Federation, they do have the distinction of being one of the few mass-produced, comercially available combat mechs on the market. It comes equipped by default with two 20mm autocannons, which can be swapped out for two light miniguns, or railguns. It also has a top-mounted, 20-missile launcher with space for an additional salvo. Whilst heavily armored from the front, its visor window is prone to being shot out and injuring or killing its operator, and field users have reported that rather than an extension of themselves, the mech feels more like a walking tank to control. Conversely, it is also one of Phönix's most expensive items.

### Kingfisher VTOL

The Kingfisher is a small, light jet aircraft capable of reaching supersonic speeds. While not capable of atmospheric traversal like the Condor, its relatively powerful armament and fast speeds make it extremely popular among planetary militias and police forces. It is equipped with a 40mm autocannon under its nose, as well as two side-mounted 7-missile launchers and storage for another 28 missiles. Whilst highly mobile and maneuverable, the Kingfisher's primary weakspots are its side-engines, which can be destroyed by even sustained small-arms fire.

### Condor Transport

The Condor is a VTOL, atmosphere re-entry capable dropship that is able to hold 12 men plus 2 pilots for rapid deployment. It can only fill a purely cargo, transport, and modest infantry support role, as the dropship is unequipped with weaponry save for a light machine gun attached to each door. The Condor has become a favorite among pirates and rapid-deployment police units for its ability to enter the atmosphere and deploy a decent number of men in quick speed. Though, the main ship is required to enter orbit in order for the transports to dock back with them again, as the ship is not equipped for vacuum flight. And there have been numerous complaints by its users for sickness during orbital deployment.