Hi, I'm currently building a custom faction inspired by the Grey Talons. Of the campaign ships, I found the Grey Talons' design scheme to be very cool. Thrustercrafts I found to be the easiest constructs I could mass produce as well as I got the hang of it quite early and they were quite fun to build.

Lore-wise, they are supposed to be a splinter tribe of the Grey Talons who gave up the way of Ascension towards a humble life on the surface, creating a cultural link between the tribe and surface civilizations. But once the Grey Talons discovered the lost tribe, the response was one of violent rejection, sparking a civil war, thus prompting the Tribe of the Surface World, now known by the belligerent monicker of the Blue Pincers (the name is WIP) to raise their battleships into the blue sky to meet them. The tribe is located in Erwick which I usually play in the campaign as my own faction.

(WIP) Emissary class Battlecruiser, the newest design thus far and still undergoing tests.

The designs of the Blue Pincers are supposed to be a mix of practical thruster craft design, and a somewhat streamlined cylindrical design to bring the aesthetic of its mass-produced nature, and surface world ship designs (Steel Striders aesthetic basically) thus giving them a mix of modern naval ship design and grey talon design. Most ships utilize APS and missiles, with some heavier ships not above using CRAM cannons and heavy tonnage vessels having access to particle cannons and lasers.

Building these ships took hundreds of hours of trial and error to get right, and most of the ships I built for the faction are subpar in my opinion. During battle tests, however, they turn out to be surprisingly resilient against Grey Talon vessels which are supposed to be their main targets. But I love how they ended up, and I'm far from done, I still have to add all the mimics and decorations to most of these ships.

Crocodile class Heavy cruiser, Perhaps surprisingly the most effective ship in the lineup thus far, due to its enormous armor density and firepower.

Sarissa Class Cruiser, a frontline lightly armed heavy cruiser with railguns, Cheap to build for its size.

Penguin class Corvette, Designed as a tactical bomber and armed with 2 60mm guns and a bombing bay

A closer look at the Cannady Class Scout cruiser.

A Cannady class scout cruiser and 3 Spearhead class corvettes performing an air patrol across Erwick.