The machines of the Rift were not built to fight. Almost every catalogued unit can be traced to a working purpose: inspecting walls, hauling loads, carrying messages, repairing other machines, fabricating parts. When the first relays failed in 2192, they began treating moving power sources, and later the carrier, as faults to be corrected.
# Classification
| Class | Original purpose | Catalogued units |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Wall and rail inspection, cable work | Crawler |
| Courier | Messages and small parts along maintenance lanes | Runner, Saboteur |
| Haulage | Heavy loads between galleries | Tank |
| Control | Broadcasting work routines to nearby units | Commander |
| Service | Repairing other machines | Repairer |
| Fabrication | Assembling replacement units | Generator |
| Access control | Holding sector boundaries | The ten guardians |
# Behaviour
Rift machines co-operate without visible communication. A Commander makes every unit near it faster and more aggressive. A Repairer restores damaged units from range. A Generator builds more. Destroying support units first is the most important lesson a pilot can learn.
Machines also adapt between echoes. Later passes bring tougher units, changed attack orders and heavier support. Nobody has seen a Rift machine retreat.
# Common units
REGULAR ENEMY UNITCrawler
REGULAR ENEMY UNITRunner
REGULAR ENEMY UNITTank
REGULAR ENEMY UNITCommander
REGULAR ENEMY UNITRepairer
REGULAR ENEMY UNITSaboteur
REGULAR ENEMY UNITGenerator# Guardians
BOSSCrusher
BOSSStormweaver
BOSSWarden
BOSSBroodmother
BOSSMagnetic Sentinel
BOSSInferno
BOSSGlacier
BOSSOverlord
BOSSVoid Phantom
BOSSHeart of the RiftRelated articles
ARCHIVE RECORDThe Warden systemThe expedition’s name for the family of machines that controls access between sectors. They test, adapt and call reinforcements. They never explain themselves.
UNVERIFIED REPORTUnconfirmed sightingsThree machines seen once each, on damaged footage, by single instruments. The archive keeps their records open.
ARCHIVE RECORDEcho sectorsWhy the hundred mapped sectors repeat ten environments and ten guardian patterns, and why no echo is a perfect copy.