The C-9 can be refitted onto four permanent chassis frames. Each is a different trade-off between speed, protection and firepower. Frames are bought once and kept for good. The garage can switch between owned frames, and preview any frame before buying.
| Chassis | Mounts | Hull | Descent speed | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 6 | 100 | Normal | Balanced. The frame Yara Demir built for the first descent. |
| Scout | 4 | 85 | Fast | Trades armour, shield efficiency and mounts for speed. |
| Bulwark | 6 | 120 | Slow | Adds passive armour, a built-in shield field, more efficient shields and a larger battery. |
| Carrier | 10 | 150 | Slowest | Accepts the largest weapon load the coupler can feed. |
Values are prototype tuning and may change before release.
# Shared hardpoints
Mounts are universal hardpoints shared by every chassis. A smaller frame may leave previously bought mounts inactive. They become usable again when a larger chassis is selected. Weapons, ammunition and research are never lost when switching.
# In the story
All four frames were built from the same survey-era parts. The Directorate drops them into caches as kits, which is why a chassis can be bought partway down the shaft. Marek does not switch to a different vehicle. He rebuilds the one he has, piece by piece, at the bottom of the world.
Related articles
ARCHIVE RECORDC-9 “Wayfarer”A crew-rated industrial elevator rebuilt as a single-pilot armoured carrier. The only vehicle descending the Rift.
ARCHIVE RECORDThe garageThe carrier’s equipment planner: assign weapons to mounts, switch chassis and preview parts without spending credits.
ARCHIVE RECORDShieldsA phase field that converts stored energy into protection. Capacity resets every floor; the energy to fill it does not.
ARCHIVE RECORDCredits and supply cachesThe salvage ledger that pays for everything, and the sealed caches along the route where credits become ammunition, repairs and new weapons.