Field Guide to Umbra

Field Guide to Umbra is a two-pronged third party supplement, introducing two new factions kept well and clear of the eye of anyone from Cradle to Karrakis. The Tactical Reconnaissance and Intelligence Corp, a faction formed from disillusioned SSC members, fights for Union with plausible deniability as the only reason no corpo's blown them clean off the star-map. And Titanomachy Terraforming Solutions, a far-field-turned-pseudo-state from as far back as FirstComm fighting for a brighter future amongst the stars despite having only a few systems under their belt.

"ALCOMM, this is the TTS 5th Europa battalion, "Jury Trial". We have heard your request for aid in your liberation from Constellar control and High Command has designated your world as high priority. We are on the way with the means of your liberation alongside ourselves. You are not alone. We stand with you. To all SSC scanners reading this frequency? Put on your dancing shoes. We're here to Tango."

Welcome to Umbra, Lancers! This field guide-to-be is a work in progress that’s been in development for a year now, but is still receiving updates behind the scenes. It’s an ambitious passion project more than a reasonably-paced game. Feel free to download, enjoy, and remember… What you don’t know will kill you. This Field Guide Contains…

A collection of new frames from two forces. One who shifts the very earth underneath them to create the space for others to breathe freely... And one best left unearthed so that they may do the same. Featuring two manufacturers:

- the Tactical Reconnaissance and Intelligence Corp, a force meant to give the Union Intelligence Bureau stopping power comprised of those who fell through the cracks of Union's pillars or outside of them altogether. When knives don't work, use bullets. 

Frames from TRIC are made to be evasive, resourceful, and above all else lethal. Including:
- The fierce anti-tech specialist, Loki! Bring your blades to bear against anyone who gets a little too comfortable with E-WAR, and feel free to ensure allied hackers now have an explosive little helper underneath!
- The undisputed rifleman supreme, Anansi! Fire bullets that pierce through reality and be sure to let your friends join in on the fun with the Catastrophe Web Core Power. No one gets to leave the webs you weave, spider, until they’re victorious- or more likely out of action.
- The bewildering temporal reflection, Curupira! Made out of a nightmare brainchild of a Lich, a Sunzi, and more, this lumbering support frame ensures that time forever remains on your side- and on the side of the striker that just tried to fistfight five Ronin without backup.
- The king of the storm that is approaching whether you like it or not, Susano-o! Knock your foes away, charge into enemy lines like you own the place, and ensure that not a single frame actually gets to approach you without running directly into your sword a few times.
- Is it there? There? There? Nevermind, the Puck is everywhere! You need no Shakespearean company to play the Puck frame- you are your own stage! Play with Oberon, Titania, and then make an absolute mockery of Schrodinger by existing everywhere all of the time to make sure that your opposition feels the curtain fall on their mission.
- Missiles exhaust, the barrage is endless and yet- you can’t help but stare at the Tamamo, the frame that marks the newest and most advanced frame TRIC’s produced yet. Complex Blackwash munitions, seemingly endless missile barrages, nanomachine hacking- and- fox emoji? Okay, who got paid to make this one!?
-  Unidentifiable frame by any metric, operational nightmare for ground crews, it’s the TRIC Púca! A frame perpetually inhabited by an unshackled NHP who can shift the very steel your cockpit happens to be housed in. Be ready to become a fox, a rabbit, or even a raven as the battlefield remains unprepared for your [EVOLUTION]
-  A close quarters hunter of the very gods themselves, the Coyote signals the end for those who seek to write ends for others’ stories. Hide just beyond the OPFOR’s vision and then introduce them to your Intercessor Blades- the fun way. Control the close range, and for those that run- remind them of their obligation to face you with a few carbine shots to the hydraulics. (Credit to BreeBird for their wonderful creative partnership with this frame!)

      -  Titanomachy Terraforming Solutions, a corpo-state in name alone, only now reestablishing any form of contact with the greater Orion Arm with their hyperadvanced infrastructural technology, and dark past they really wish they could forget. 
 - The premier in chilled negotiations and a former Glacier seeder, the Enceladus. Apply Permafrost to the floor, freeze the area around your reactor as close to 0 degrees Kelvin as possible, and inform your Dorsa-Class copilot that really- REALLY- would rather do research or anything else besides this thing you’re doing with your reactor, pilot.
- The carrier-like sovereign of the past, the TTS Europa. Create no-fly zones, send Aegis Drones, and keep those retrofitted CIWS turrets ready to fire the new Ripper nanomachine swarms to cut hostile formations down to size as you stand tall and proud in your new role!
- …Is that a size 3 mech with 12 Evasion!? Sure is! Meet the Io, a frame designed to be capable of surface to orbit flight to help orbital construction. Load up with nailguns, ill-advised rocket boosters, and a few spare reactor rods, and show them that you can strafe better than their best pilots in a glorified crane.
- The skies are no longer entirely friendly with the TTS Titan. A living museum piece, the Titan has stood the test of time to continue to create weather from clouds and storms to life-giving rain. In your hands, Lancer, this frame could do so much more good for the world- if you’re willing to harness it’s potential with an ATMOS unit at your side.
- Remind them all that TTS has “Terraforming” in the name with the TTS Triton. Shake the earth beneath their feet and break their backs as the rockslide claims their frames to make some new farmland for another. Just watch out for the Borehole Charges.
- The Io is back with a significantly larger main armament! Meet the Calypso, a frame actually designed for combat and the latest project of TTS’ research. Fire at opposition with project Odysseus and then finish the job with an array of finely tuned sniper gear able to hit a target across the planet you’re fighting on.
- Sometimes infantry need a buddy. Sometimes that buddy needs a buddy. And sometimes said buddy is the TTS Eris, an upgunned pathfinding hardsuit armed with nothing more than determination, good humor- and the machine guns certainly don’t hurt it’s chances. Make sure no environmental feature, present or future (in the case of what will certainly become mechanized chassis wrecks) are unknown to your team and prepare for the long trek. (Credit to CHARON for his creative partnership)

Alongside these two new manufacturers come two GMS products from before the era of mechs. The GMS Denali, an attack helicopter designed to carry as much payload as can be unloaded in a volley or two, and the GMS Aconcagua, a tank with an active protection system capable of instantly intercepting an attack long before your allies feel the sting. (Credit to Bargonauts for the creative partnership for both of these lovely machines)

Additionally this field guide contains: New Exotics (in progress, but 3 exist right now for your enjoyment!) New Talents (in progress) New NPCs, Environments, and SITREPS  (in progress) A new setting: Umbra, land of the slumbering Titan (in progress)

This is a work in progress. Some content is still on the way and not prepared for release, and thus is marked as in progress.
Disclaimer: FoxScribe is not affiliated with Massif Press, and Field Guide to Umbra is not an official Lancer product; it is a third party work, and is not affiliated with Massif Press. Field Guide to Umbra is published via the Lancer Third Party License. This is a Fanmade Homebrew Project. Lancer is Copyright Massif Press.