ILIAD Platform

**Key Features** | »» High Sequence Railgun Battery»» Parasitic Drone Support Array»» Industrial Turbine Generator»» Honeycombed Pontoon Supports»» Light Skeletal Superstructure

*"Even the gods cannot escape my wrath."*

- ILIAD Gunner
## Tactical Analysis

* **The Sky is Falling Down**: The ILIAD Platform is a dedicated anti air escort, and a very effective one in its own right. The ILIAD's railgun battery can unleash a sky shattering barrage of railgun rounds that will send even the most heavily armoured of aircraft crashing to the ground.

* **Mechanical Eyes and Ears**: However, this formidable railgun battery must be targeted before it can fire. The ILIAD is thus equipped with a contingent of spotter drones, which it can direct to attach to a target. Only once a drone has attached to a target can the ILIAD open fire.

* **Inflexible Juggernaut**: Beware; the ILIAD has no surface to surface capability. Its dedication to air defence leaves it helpless against surface ships and submarines, and while extremely deadly, its railgun cannot be self directed, thus requiring careful attention in order for it to be effective.

* **Premium Package**: New to the market is the AJAX platform, a straight upgrade to the ILIAD thanks to an even more advanced autoloader, larger drone bays, and specialised munition that will explode when nearing its target and spraying the skies with high-speed shrapnel.

## Background

In the darker days of the war, only the strongest of European nations stood free of occupation. Italy assembled vast legions of security personnel, Switzerland shattered the very skies with steel and lead, Greece fought in the streets while the aqueducts filled with blood, and Norway stood alone encased in a artificial cryo-tempest. But what of the rest of the world? Naturally of course, the militaristic Juntas of the ancient silk trail and the new world stood more than capable in the art of war, but the newly decolonized nations of Africa were far from prepared.

The **ILIAD Platform** was born out of the need for an effective anti-air platform with the ability to bring an end the brutal Soviet air campaign against Allied tolerant nations in North Africa. After the fall of Albania, the Soviet Union launched a campaign against the supply lines of the standing Allied Nations. The traditional major ports and cities were blockaded by Akula hunting packs while the rest of Africa was to be bombed to oblivion. Twinblades, MiG Fighters, and even Kirovs were dispatched over the sea to launch a operation to break the support of the people. Within a week, millions had been displaced by the bombing runs and thousands lay dead. The support lines for necessary materials like food, water, and ammunition grew thin as entire countries backed out of the Allied Nations in fear of Soviet bombardment.

The Mediterranean Syndicate was the first to feel the effects, and quickly took steps to try and rectify the situation. The problem came from the fact that the ports would refuse to trade until the safety of the cities could be guaranteed. Over the new few weeks Syndicate engineers came up with the design for a heavy anti aircraft battery with the power to bring anything short of a Kirov down with a swift blow. This was the Intelligent Linked-Interface Air Defence platform, or ILIAD, a ship armed with an immense cyclic railgun array. Although the ILIAD is not as flexible or as manoeuvrable as the Hydrofoil, it is a far more effective as an anti aircraft platform, and is far cheaper to acquire and maintain.

The design called on the deployed scout drone to attach itself to the target and hold it still until the ILIAD could fire its main weapon. The array cannot be self-directed; the ILIAD has a massive contingent of spotter drones below decks that attach onto a prospective target, providing any ILIAD in the combat zone with the opportunity to turn the target (and the drone) into ash. The results were astounding! Entire air wings were brought down in a single salvo. The design was so simple, effective, and cheap that the Syndicate deployed the ILIAD throughout friendly waters. By the time the Soviet Union had abandoned its campaign, the ILIAD had become the mainstream naval air defence system for the entire Mediterranean Syndicate Security Forces.

New to the market is the AJAX platform, a straight upgrade to the ILIAD thanks to an even more advance autoloader with an AI and specialised munition, which will now explode when nearing its target thank to said AI, spraying the skies with high speed shrapnel, and larger drone bays, meaning it can tag more drones.

But the platform doesn't come cheap, with the crew having to pay for it out of their own pockets. Though the contractors that hire them do contribute by covering 5% of the cost.

## Behind the Scenes

It is an accepted suggestion by Renteria.