AZASHAR-Class General Purpose Vessels; They qualify as terror weapons in their own right under the UGC.	Tiresian Malcontents.		AZASHAR-Class General Purpose Vessels; They qualify as terror weapons in their own right under the UGC.
Overview:
Tiresian Malcontents were for three centuries the most enigmatic of the major malcontent groups; Little is known about them collectively. Typically these groups are a single ship, operating independently of all others. It is unknown if they are completely independent of each other, or whether there is a "larger plan" in operation. The one thing that IS known, however, is technologically they are Tiresian Supremists, using ONLY Robotech Mᴀsᴛᴇʀs designs, including automated Mecha (such as the Assault Drones and variants there of) in support of Bioroid Assault Teams. Biologically, however, they are anything BUT supremists. They are known to take slaves, and many are forcibly brainwashed into becoming Tiresian Malcontent Soldiers or Tiresian Citizens. as "breeders" (this applies to males and females). Tiresian Malcontent Raids Tiresian Malcontent raids are an enigma of itself; During the utterly rare raid, they seem to only take metals ready to use, but never finished products; They take raw steel, gold, silver (in small quantities), but never such things as joint actuators, weapons/munitions, etc. This has made predicting (and therefore preventing) such raids problematic. This has, however, given Robotech Expeditionary Forces Intelligence a valuable clue; REF Intelligence has concluded that Tiresian Malcont have EXTENSIVE manufacturing capabilities. Since such equipment is unlikely to be carried aboard any warship (even Robotech Masters Motherships, with their extensive capabilities), they must use some sort of base facilities. This, in turn tells the REF that somewhere they have one or more Robotech Factory or similar facility. (Several Three Star-Class Factory ships have disappeared over the years; It is not unlikely they were captured by Tiresian and other Malcontents.) It is believed that a Tiresian Malcont group captured a manufacturing facility, then promised other groups access to the facility in exchange for materials. This would account for the apparent disunity of the groups, but the seemingly singularity. Unlike other malcontents groups, no Tiresian Malcont group has EVER been witnessed to be fighting with other malcont group. No Mothership has eve been captured, and the few POW's taken have always been low-rank Bioroid pilots; Not even an Assault Shuttle pilot has been captured. About half have been confirmed to be slaves taken in other raids. All such "hostages" (as they are officially designated) were taken by the same group they were taken from, indicating they are not transferred to other groups (sold). Tiresian Malcontent Tactics Tiresian Malcontent tactics deserve special mention for its uniqueness; Singly in the galaxies, the Tiresian Malcontents depend on Drones more so than Bioroids (with their living pilots). One Bioroid has up to 400 Light Assault Drones, 40 Heavy Assault Drones, and dozens of Heavy Work Drones. (Though dozens of variants of each exist, the basic design remains clearly identifiable.) Also, the battle doctrine is centered around this same idea; NEVER has a Bioroid been seen to enter battle without it's Hover Sled, and they rarely abandon them unless damaged or absolutely necessary to escape. Additionally, the Drones are apparently considered fully expendable; The loss of a full assault groups Drones to save the Bioroids has OFTEN been seen. This has frustrated attempts to capture POW's, but given REF Intelligence a valuable clue as well; The use of slaves as pilots, combined with the determination to recover pilots, indicates they are short on man power, making every warm body recovered worth the expense of up to 5,000 Drones. This, in turn, has lead to speculation that the actual number of Tiresian Malcontent groups is less than the numbers their raids indicate (a simple trick of changing the markings every battle, fooling the opposition into believing they are two or more separate groups). At least 150 groups are known to exist none the less, based strictly on the number of attacks over the course of a year; Regardless of how fast you work you can only effectively attack so many times in a single year and still maintain effectiveness. No Mothership has ever been captured; Several were in danger of capture, whereupon the crew blew the ship up to prevent capture. It is believed this is battle doctrine, as over two DOZEN assault shuttles came alongside but did not attempt to reboard their mothership; Instead they simply waited there, taking but not returning fire from Robotech Defense Forces. Another noteworthy comment is on the aforementioned efforts to recover their comrades; Though every effort is made to recover a LIVING comrade is made, absolutely NO effort is made to recover a dead one. Wounded comrades are fought for voraciously, and thousands of Drones, lead by Bioroids, are hurled at an enemy willingly. Once life functions cease, however, all attacks are called off and the survivors withdrawn. The REF and RDF's greatest source of intelligence on Tiresian Malcontents is SIGINT's; The malconts apparently haven't yet learned new radio disciplines, and perhaps their technology doesn't allow them to. (Recovered Bioroids do have pre-Terran War radios.) However, REF Intelligence has consistently been frustrated by the inability to successfully intercept any Tiresian Malconts; In July of 2315, REF Intelligence had absolutely reliable information indicating that a Tiresian Malcont group was not only PLANNING, but ABOUT to execute a raid on an outlier colony. 21st Fleet was dispatched to intercept them; The malconts raided another colony instead. In December of 2316, however, another plan to intercept an Tiresian Malcont group went off without a hitch; A HIGHLY valuable prize, Protoculture, was transferred to an outlier colony, supposedly without escort. In fact, and escort of some 50 warships were in attendance. The battle fleet detached from the cargo fleet immediately after de-fold, then awaited the malcont's attack. When they did, the battle fleet laid into the malconts with a viciousness not seen outside of war. Tiresian Malcontent Cultural Note A noteworthy change is in cultural attitudes: At one time, all Bioroid Pilots were male. But bodies recovered from destroyed Bioroids indicate that males and females both make up Bioroid pilots in roughly equal numbers now. However, all the females have indicators of Tiresian Security Forces. Tiresian Infantry. AZASHAR-Class General Purpose Vessels; They qualify as terror weapons in their own right under the UGC. previous pregnancy. Tiresian Malcontent Slaves Most slavers take whatever slaves they can, less Garudans (who's dependence on Hin make them a liability as slaves); Not so Tiresian Malcontents. They ONLY take Humanoids, less the mutation-prone Perytonians. This has also given SOME indication to REF Intelligence of Tiresian Malcontent intentions: Since Bioroids require a Humanoid pilot, and Perytonians mutagenic nature make adaptation of Bioroid problematic (as a Bioroid must be adapted to that specific pilot, and can not be used by any pilot afterwards unless modified again), REF Intelligence has concluded that slaving raids by Tiresian Malcontents are focused on obtaining pilots for Bioroids, and for breeders. To recap: Very little is actually known about Tiresian Malcontents, though the following is "known": 01. Tiresian Malcontent are HIGHLY dependent on Drones, and treat them as expendable (verging on disposable); 02. No effort is spared to recover a LIVING comrade, but no effort is made to recover a DEAD comrade; 03. Only Humanoid slaves are taken; 04. The Tiresian Malcontents have manufacturing facilities; 05. They do NOT fight each other under ANY circumstances, but do NOT operate in concert. Furthermore, the following is believed to be "HIGHLY LIKELY": 01. They have one or more Three Star-Class and/or Robotech Factories; 02. They are independent, but not in competition; 03. Slaves are taken to be made into crews and Bioroid pilots. Finally, the following is considered PROBABLE: 01. They have some degree of co-operative agreement; 02. They do NOT have co-operative agreements with non-Tiresian Malconts; 03. They have a intelligence collection capability, but not highly a developed one. Hardware: The Tiresisans use an interesting collection of hardware. Mobile Gun Bioroid; This is the most common type of piloted Mecha deployed by the Tiresians. Orguss Veritech; 1 in 100 Piloted Mecha are Orgusses. Primary Defense Drone; There are roughly 1,000 Primary Defense Drones per every Mobile Gun Bioroids. ROIL TILUVO-Class Assault Corvette; This is the primary air-support and Mecha insertation ship. QUILTRA DRAENITZS-Class Multipurpose Transport; This is the primary capital ship; Although there are many more ROIL TILUVO-Class Assault Corvettes (about 100 times as many), the QUILTRA DRAENITZS-Class are still far more important. AZASHAR-Class General Purpose Vessels; Also known as the Robotech Mothership. Although these are the flagships, they are really far LESS important than the QUILTRA DRAENITZS-Class Multipurpose Transport. A large collection of various repair and construction drones. They rarely move beyond these designs, and when they do it's usually a temporary field-acquisition (using an enemies' Mecha against them, but abandoning it quickly after).
Intel Update (2512):
The Tiresians are SLOWLY beginning to integrate non-Robotech Masters Technologies into their arsenals, especially post-liberation Atorian technology (such as the new Atorian Robots and the Orguss Veritech they've begun to deploy) and Guardian Fighters.
Intel Update (2531):
The new breed of Orguss Veritech have been spotted with at LEAST one element of the Tiresian, Invidia, AND Atorian Factions emblazoned on their wings and Torsos. A full technical readout will be presented ASAP. In what fashion and to what degree this effects previously understood Intel is unclear. The existence of non-Tiresian malcontent factions operating the Orguss undermines the theory that the Tiresians do not cooperate with other factions; Though there are elements clearly from the Invidia and Atorians, the Tiresians were clearly the leaders on that program. That's fairly irrelevant, however; The UGC does know that the Tiresians have tried to reach out to the Palpatine Order and the Syhith at large. (There is no evidence the PALAPTINIANS have accepted these overtures, but other Syhith seem to have accepted some degree of mutual assistance.)
Intel Update (2552):
The discovery that one of the Tiresian Elders, the so-called "Robotech Masters," has cast an ominous shadow over the Tiresian Malcontent status: Firstly, since the Elders did once properly ascend to the power they occupied, they may attempt legitimize their claim to power. This claim is highly disputable, however, since the current Tiresians do not recognize their authority, and they evacuated Tirol over 500 years ago. Secondarily, however, is the fact that a LIVING Elder will be a rallying point for other like-minded malcontents, especially Masterite T'sentraedi. It is assumed that the Tiresian malconts, to one degree or another, have been cooperating to the degree ordered by the Elder(s). This doesn't concern the UGC in the least; In fact this is a good thing. It ensures that the violence, no matter how extreme it gets, doesn't become open chaos- The last thing the UGC needs is that during one raid, another one starts, becoming a three-way battle (it's happened before). The Robotech Master's apparent willingness to cooperate with other does concern the UGC a little bit (not a lot), as this may unlock the door to enfranchising Tśentrædi Sepratists, Supremist, and Clan factions, but this worry is only in relation to the power of any given attack. However, an ominous change in Tiresian Society; A S/R-2000 Raven Spy Veritech operated by the Galactic Information Bureau observed a full battle between two fleets of AZASHAR-Class General Purpose Vessels (and their attendant QUILTRA DRAENITZS-Class Multipurpose Frigates and ROIL TILUVO-Class Assault Corvettes). Over the course of the battle, one ship seemed to prevail; At some point the other ceased fighting. Her attendant ships then stood down, lined up, and over the course of the next few hours landed in the victor's ship. The victor then mated with the loser, and stayed there for several days; She then undocked and moved away. The GIB agent flying that mission sent his ship home and detached; In an act of extreme bravery, he boarded the abandoned ship and recorded what he could; She'd been stripped of everything of value except hull sections, frames, and bulkheads. Everything else was trashed. No bodies were recovered. He retrieved his ship, returned, and filed his report. It is believed that the two ships had a winner-take-all challenge for supremacy; The winner then absorbed the surviving assets.