Ok, time for another little update, this time showing new screenshots of an already mentioned unit previously known as a Spider Cruiser. The old model wasn't up to scratch with the rest of the lineup so I have made a new one which fits the setting better (and looks much better in my opinion).
Vortex Cruiser
Ingame description:
"A Genome 3 creation, the Vortex cruiser, although unarmed, is a valuable addition to any fleet, capable of using powerful gravity projectors to both ensnare enemy ships and prevent their escape into phase space."
Out of the box, this unit will be capable only of light support duty, and is meant for commanders who have an excess of resources and would just like to catch those high level caps from running away when things get dicey. Later on however, it can become one of the most values and useful additions to your fleets, especially when dealing with a slippery foe.
It is completely unarmed, however it has one nifty ability which can potentially make it a killer when flying with support - it can effectively drag any ship to a halt. I think the value of this doesn't need to be explained.
But, with further research, things get even better! It becomes capable of deploying a gravity disturbance field strong enough to prevent all ships within a large radius from entering phase space (the tractor beam only slows a single ship down, but that ship can still fight, turn and escape if it reaches phasing boundary), thus trapping them until either the Vortex cruiser is blown up, or they are. Of course, nothing stops you from deploying more than one such cruiser.
Last but not least, with even further research, the cruiser gains another ability, Implode, which enables it to effectively self-destruct and possibly take a few of the enemy ships with it, or at least damage them. Considering the Vortex cruiser is probably going to be a no.1 target when big stakes are on the table, this ability can come in handy.
Screenshots:
