CSS Keep

The **CSS *Keep*** was a Keep-class Mobile Base belonging to the Green Drone Armada (GDA) during the Green Drone War. It was then stolen by Captain Jack Roberts and the Colonist Survivors (CSS) during their time being stranded on Monus III.

\*NOTE: This article refers to the specific Keep-class Mobile Base seen in 'Space Engineers: Colony Lost'. The overall class of vehicle and the *Bastion* (the Keep-class seen in 'Space Engineers: Starship Lost') will be covered in separate articles.

## History

### The Green Drone War

After the crash of the Colonist Survivors (CSS)’s flagship, the CSS *Vengeance*, during the Battle of Monus III, the surviving crew led by Captain Jack Roberts came across a GDA bunker. They escaped a trap set by The Commander and stole the *Keep* to flee the facility and establish a hideout, driving across the planet and salvaging crashed starships along the way.

The Colonists used the *Keep* as their primary transport for their time on Monus III. Over time, they upgraded it with better weapons, cargo space, and interior facilities. The team used the *Keep* to join Red Wood Industries (RWI) in attacking the GDA’s main base on the planet in order to steal the Artifact and rescue Commander Craz, Jack’s good friend and second-in-command. The *Keep* crossed a bridge over a deep canyon and used its new weapons to punch through the GDA’s defenses, allowing the team to storm the base.

However, the RWI *Intrepid* was shot down by GDA Destroyers and the team retreated, having rescued Craz but failing to seize the Artifact. The team quickly boarded the *Keep*, rescued the *Intrepid*’s captain, Sam Reed, and tried to escape back over the bridge. However, the GDA blew up a section of the bridge, trapping the CSS between a canyon and a contingent of GDA ships. The *Keep* took heavy damage, losing several wheels and turrets in the defense. Thankfully, reinforcements from the RWI *Valiant* arrived to evacuate the crew, who abandoned the *Keep* on the bridge as a Green Drone Destroyer used its Atlas Superlaser to destroy the vehicle for good. Its remains plummeted into the canyon below.

### Legacy

During the Invasion of P3-X2 several months later, the Colonists, now serving under RWI, hijacked another Keep-class Mobile Base to reinforce the RWI science ship *Discovery*’s survivors. This vehicle faced off against another of its kind and numerous fighters, but was quickly crippled and abandoned.

After the war, Admiral Jack Roberts and his strike team encountered another Keep-class vehicle on Agaris when they arrived to search for the long-lost RWI *Pegasus*. They decided to take it from the destroyed outpost it was parked at, naming it the *Bastion* (in honor of the base the Colonists used on Monus III) and using it to traverse the planet and meet up with representatives from the United Colonies of Agaris (UCA). It was damaged beyond repair by Reavers and abandoned at a UCA camp a short time later.

## Description

As a Keep-class Mobile Base, the CSS *Keep* had the standard eight enormous wheels, four on each side, and its interior layout was the same as all other Keep-class vehicles. At the front was the bridge/command center, with seats for a pilot, copilot, and four crewmen. The hallway behind it split off three ways - one leading to the central hydrogen and cargo storage area in the middle of the mobile base and the other two leading down the port and starboard sides of the vehicle, which were divided into rooms along the length of the *Keep* that housed cryo pods, a medical bay, a barracks, and an office. At the back of the *Keep* was a closeable ramp leading to a hangar bay for a rover to be housed, and on the top deck was a landing pad for a small ship to dock. There was also a cramped production bay and observation balcony on the lower deck near the front, and walkways and ladders to the top deck were scattered around the rover.

The *Keep* was armed at first with six M-61 Vulcan minigun turrets. As the CSS modified it further, more weaponry included three fixed rocket launcher pods at the front below the bridge, two Gemini AA turrets from Azimuth Industries, a missile turret on the back of the top deck, and a deadly Magnetic Coil Cannon on top. Being a land vehicle, it had no shields, and most of its hull was light armor. Jack Roberts also modified it with four atmospheric boosting thrusters to help the Keep accelerate faster and drive uphill easier.

## Behind-The-Scenes

* Steam Workshop Link (for the *Keep*): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1976182208
* The *Keep* and the overall Keep-class design seen in the Colony Universe is a modification of the Green Team Land Lord Rover built by Aragath, which can be seen in some of the Space Engineers main menu background clips.
	+ Steam Workshop Link (for the Land Lord): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1460398681