The UEC Arrives

For about the last four or so weeks, I’ve been teasing the imminent arrival of my newest 3d project, the UEC. Trying to bring these immense ships to life was quite the challenge as some of their designs aren’t so… straightforward. It took me about two weeks to get the models prepped and formatted correctly, but, at long last, here we are! These ships represent the core of the UEC fleet that stands opposite the Sapphire Eye, and the differences between them couldn’t possibly be more obvious. In terms of design, both empires have their own recognizable style that sets them apart from their counterparts, and there are certainly some massively glaring differences in the strengths and weaknesses of both factions (specifically looking at you Orca and Katana.) Instead of letting me carry on about them for a few paragraphs… why don’t we just hop right in! Without further ado, I introduce you to the might of the UEC Navy!

Trident

Standing as the UEC's mainstay frigate, the Trident embodies everything that defines UEC fleet design. Like most UEC ships, the entirety of its frame is designed around its main weapon, the Hyper Accelerator Cannon, or HAC for short. HACs are effectively gigantic gauss cannons that run the length of their ships, and they are incredibly devastating. With each Trident having its own HAC, even a fleet of frigates can be quite devastating, and that doesn't even account for the rest of its weaponry. Possessing a cold and brutalist design that emphasizes the layers and layers of cold steel that comprise its form, the Trident stands bright as the shining example of peak UEC ship design.

In terms of design, the Trident is one of the oldest designs that I’ve had in my back pocket. I think I made this somewhere around 12 or so years ago, but it might have been even longer than that. The name of the Trident was two fold inspiration. I knew I want the UEC to be named around weapons, because there needs to be unified naming between all factions, and the Trident seemed fitting since the ship has three noticeable prongs. While it is a complicated looking design, there is a method to the madness. The back half of the ship is thicker because that’s where all of its rooms are, and almost all of the engines on the ship are actually located in the four blocks on its four corners. Each of the prongs on the front of the ship are a weapons platform of some kind with the top prong housing the HAC, the bottom one housing an immense number of cannons, and the middle being missile based. All in all, it’s a deceptively dangerous ship!

Cutlass

Effectively a giant flying gun, the Cutlass battleship represents the core of the UEC battleship divisions. Much like the Trident, it’s built around an HAC, though the battleship variant is far larger. Its form is straightforward and simplistic in design, but do not let that fool you. Cutlass battleships are incredibly bulky and can deliver a nasty amount of fire from the array of weapons they support, and the damage they can take is equally impressive. Effectively balancing defense with offense, the Cutlass is a Swiss army knife that can fit into many fleet formations, and any fleet that tries to engage these long-ranged ships at a distance will quickly learn why their HACs are so feared.

The Cutlass was the second ship designed after the Trident, and it was insanely straightforward in concept. “What if the UEC made a gun and called it a ship?” That is effectively the design philosophy behind this war machine. There are no details on it for the most part simply because there don’t need to be. The ship is one long gun that is heavily armored on all sides and slimmed down to cut costs as much as possibly. Only the bare minimum is actually on the outside of the ship, meaning it has a very, VERY low signature radius when faced from the front, and that’s part of what makes them so insanely deadly. In a long rang engagement, the might of their HAC and their low sig radius makes them dangerous opponents, even if they are just flying tubes.

Katana

Unlike the Sapphire Eye, the UEC does not have a supercarrier. Instead, the Katana operates as their standard carrier. Katana's share some similarities with the origin of their namesake, the fronts of these ship vaguely copying elements from old samurai helmets from imperial Japan. While they lack the bulk and sheer defense of an Orca, they do possess an array of anti-ship and fighter defenses that allows them to be a little more flexible in fleet formations, and they possess large enough troop holds to deploy sizeable regiments in any battlefield. Thanks to the flexibility of their fighter holds, Katanas can swap out their squadrons of Hornets for bombers or any other type of fighter craft to adapt to any situation, making them a core component of any UEC defense fleet.

This SHIP was the one that nearly broke my brain. Trying to translate what I can see in my head to the front of the ship was immensely difficult, but I think the idea comes across fine. The Katana is unique in that it doesn’t have an HAC simply because it is in fact a carrier. In terms of story, it was created by Stockton industries many years ago and now stands as a mainstay carrier. Each of the segments you can see through the middle of the ship are the deployment holds, each one capable of holding thousands of troops and fighters. While these carriers were heralded as the end all be all carrier, they did get a bit overshadowed by the Orcas… literally!

Hornet

Over the course of thousands of years, UEC fighter craft have steadily evolved and grown to utilize the most cutting-edge technology of any given era, and the Hornet is simply the newest evolution of that chain. Building off their predecessors, Hornets are incredibly swift and versatile fighter craft. Their main cannons are more than capable of catching up to enemy fighters and gunning them down with precision, and they each have sizeable missile bays that give them options against both larger ships as well as ground forces. Although small in size, Hornets form the backbone of the UEC navy, and they have more than earned that title.

Bringing this fighter was difficult because their design is so straightforward. Part of it was influenced by looking at the evolution of our own aviation industry, which has mostly been based around the idea of ‘simplify, simplify, simplify.’ There is certainly room for the Hornet to be redesigned, and it probably will be, but that falls in line with the nature of UEC fightercraft. Constantly evolving, constantly improving!

Blender

Aaaaaaaaand that’s it! I’m super excited to finally have the UEC side of my book get a face and be shown off in a place where people can see them in all their glory! When I first did my round of Sapphire Eye ships, I knew that I wanted to circle back around and give their opponents a face, and it turned out quite well! All of the designs were done in blender and the rendering that turned them into blueprints was done there as well! All in all, I’m happy with the results, and seeing them actually take their place across from the Sapphire Eye honestly did make my eyes sparkle a little. It is so satisfying to see pieces of my world snap into reality one small cog at a time. That being said, there are far more ships in both fleets, so don’t be surprised if another round for both factions shows up in the future! There’s plenty of room on this site to showcase the Scimitar, Snapdragon, Mokota, Flamberge, Naudilon, and even the subject of a future short story, the dreaded Baltigon class battlecruisers!

General Updates

With all of that out of the way, it’s time to do some basic house cleaning! Umm… literally… I need to clean my apartment. In terms of electronic stuff, streaming is continuing on a regular schedule and will continue into the foreseeable future. I am working on setting up additional assets to improve its quality and make it stand out a little better, including a dedicated mic and webcam, but all of that is still a bit out simply because I have trouble finding free time… In terms of content, expect it to continue to be Link to the Past randos for a good long while, but I am very interested in potentially expanding to other games such as WoW or Satisfactory. Just keep an eye peeled and we’ll see what I feel like!

In the land of digital art, I have TWO things in the works! I’m working on my landscape pieces and am honestly struggling learning the art behind texturing things like rocks and trees. I’m making progress, and I hope to soon, possibly even this weekend, have a new piece to show off in the form of the Karasi desert! Once its done, I plan on tackling other locales in my book as well as open an investigation into painting a map of my world with all of the various locations marked! After all, seeing is a lot different than reading! Second up in the land of digital art, I’m steadily learning more about line art and am trying to break into short form amusing comics. Some of these will just be thought vomit, and others will reflect misadventures with my friends. We’ll just have to wait and see how these comics develop, because I’ve already hard committed to enough as it is!

Lastly, short stories. Short stories are still on hold, but are growing more and more in my mind. Both Yenza and the Baltigon stories are gaining traction in the more imaginative side of my brain, so while I am NOT actively working on them, I would expect to have the ability to start either story without notice at any given point. As such, I am going to stop calling them out in these weekly blog posts since I consider them both outside the cycle, but I WOULD one thousand percent anticipate seeing one of them manifest before the end of the year for sure! After all, I think people deserve to see the rough and rugged determination that is Captain Yenza and her rise to power!

Closing Thoughts

It was a super exciting week in terms of this website, and I’m eager to see how it looks even in a month time as I steadily gain traction with more art assets! Since I know that I do in fact have a few readers now for this thing (yay!), keep your eyes peeled for more fun Sapphire Verdict things over the coming weeks! I appreciate you all, and, as always… cheers!

The Flying Fennec