Contention: Exohuman starships

This was definitely long overdue, but I finally got around to finishing up some concepts on the ships of the Exohuman race for the Contention series. I've been thinking about how their ships would look for a while and they went through several different incarnations overtime but I really like this version of them with angular, mean looking designs. I also made them have similar looks to the 3 human factions' ships to illustrate the idea of common design aspects (which there is a good reason for, but I'm keeping that a secret for now ) 

The arch rivals of the UNC since their swift and devastating assault on Earth in 2345, the Exohuman fleet is still very much a mystery to human military brass. The most pressing question is how and where the Exohumans managed to acquire such a sizable armada in the first place, as their initial attack on Earth with over 400 ships certainly showed the power that the Exohumans could muster. Based on the exact same technology that the UNC utilizes (another very pressing mystery), Exohuman ships are just as deadly as their UNC counterparts and in an all out assault they are arguably more fierce. Exohuman fleets attack with unyielding ferocity, each ship continuously putting pressure on their enemy targets, seemingly with no concern for the lives of the ships' crews and advancing more and more until either their own fleet is wiped out or their enemies are. This combat strategy allows the Exohuman fleet to wield impressive power and with no signs of their war machine stopping the 3 human factions are gravely concerned about how they will put an end to the threat. The most dangerous ship in the Exohuman armada is by far the battleship. Slightly larger than a UNC supercarrier and heavily armored as well as having a hull bristling with weaponry. The deadliest property of these ships is the particle accelerator, a massive weapon system used exclusively by battleships. These ships only carry one of these accelerators, but this is more than enough to cause serious damage to an enemy fleet even from extreme ranges. The weapon has been observed to absolutely slice through any known starship in existence, any ship short of a UNC battlecruiser can't take more than a single hit without catastrophic damage, and even the largest of the UNC's vessels can't hope to survive more than 2 shots, with just one inflicting very severe damage. This was seen most famously during the Exohumans' initial attack on Earth, when the supercarrier UNS Arcgangel was obliterated by 2 successive shots from Exohuman battleships after destroying 9 Exohuman ships single-handed. The second shot went straight through the Archangel and hit the ship's reactor, causing an enormous explosion that further damaged ships on both sides that were nearby, also killing all of the ship's 1,800 man crew. 

Exohuman ships utilize several different weapons that separate them from the UNC. While still having shock cannons as their ships' main guns, Exohuman vessels carry plasma cannon turrets instead of the railgun turrets of the UN for close in offensive support. Also they make extensive use of devices the UN has labeled "particle mini-guns", small cannons that fire streams of accelerated matter in rapid succession. these weapons have been known to shred through UN ships with sustained fire. Exohuman ships also have some more advanced properties than UN ships, namely their general speed and maneuverability as well as their method of using anti-gravity systems for in-atmosphere levitation which has proven significantly more reliable and durable compared to the electromegnetic levitation plating used by UN ships (and all human ships for that matter). Some of these advancements have been adapted by several ships in the UNC fleet, the most notable being the UNS Aconcagua, the flagship of the UN Navy's first fleet and commanded by Arch Admiral Mikhail Selfridge. The Aconcagua has been refitted with 4 particle mini-guns, nearly 50 plasma turrets and a more efficient reactor designed straight from Exohuman examples. 

Link to United Nations ships: malcontent1692.deviantart.com/…
Link to Allied Confederation ships: malcontent1692.deviantart.com/…
Link to Unified Republic ships: malcontent1692.deviantart.com/…
Want to find out a bit more about Exohumans? Look no further!: malcontent1692.deviantart.com/…