General Information
The Cybrans are the 2nd faction in Supreme Commander. They are fighting for their independence, after many years of enslavement by the Earth Forces. Cybran units are often insect-like in appearance, and known for being extremely versatile: from assault bots which can repair other units to walking destroyers, a good Cybran player can adapt quickly to every situation. Though they would not win in a direct fight with either faction their versatility allows them to improvise quicky. They also use stealth technology more than either the UEF or Aeon Illuminate.
Leadership
The Cybran Nation is led by Dr. Brackman, the founder and inventor of the symbionts. Dostya is a high-ranking military official whom Dr. Brackman consults with concerning military affairs. QAI is a program which advises and informs Dr. Brackman concerning various elements. When the Cybran nation becomes part of the Coalition, Dr. Brackman is the driving force behind the Coalition research and development, producing items such as a Seraphim Translator, a Quantum Jammer, in addition to the majority of the new units to the Cybran faction.
History
Dr. Brackman's creations - "symbionts" - served the Earth Empire unquestioningly up until the beginning of the Empire's downfall. They demanded recognition as their own people and sought independence. The Earth Empire responded with a "Loyalty" program, enslaving anyone with an AI implant. Dr. Brackman fled with his closest symbionts to the planet Procyon, creating the first node of the Cybran Nation. They vowed to fight for their freedom.
The Earth Empire began to invade Procyon, in hopes of stopping any organised formation of symbionts. They set off the program again, but Dr. Brackman had already disabled the program in his fellow free symbionts. At first, the free symbionts, now known as Cybrans, employed guerilla tactics to deal with the imperial troops, but soon began fighting an all-out war with the Earth Empire. The imperial commander on site began methodically scorching the planet with nuclear weapons, forcing the Cybrans to flee. But it had made its mark; Procyon, once a rough but life-filled world, now became a barren and desolate wasteland.
As the war against the Earth Empire rages on, Brackman orders many Nodes to do what they do best: hide. In the meantime, Brackman gathers his military commanders in a desperate bid to devise a strategy that will enable the Cybrans to defeat the Aeon and the Earth Empire. The group quickly comes to the realization, though, that the Cybrans will never be able to win such a campaign.
Military Application
See Cybran General Combat Theory.
Doctrine
The Cybran Military makes extensive use of engineering drones for construction
Cybran units are fast and stealthy, with designs that often include triangular shapes. An example of this is the ED-1 Cybran shield generator. Cybran tactics rely not on out-and-out battle, but stealthily destroying as much as possible before their experimentals move in for the kill. Their units also allow a good commander to adapt to almost any situation, with many versatile units such as the Salem and the Mantis. The weapons used are primarily energy, as well as a collection of tracking and non-tracking shells. Like their units, Cybran weapons often include odd abilities like stunning (the EMP Grenade launcher and EMP cannon), or damage over time (the Kril Torpedoes used on the HARMS).
The appearance of Cybran design bespeaks their enhanced cognitive processing powers and their critical perspective, and their units and structures are efficient and and not bound by structural orthogonality. While the UEF designs around the needs and wants of conventional understandings of human bodies, with bots walking bipedally or vehicles with plenty of interior space rolling smoothly on caterpillar treads across terrain, and buildings designed to be highly orthogonal, with right angles and high vaulted ceilings; and Aeon designs hint at the centrality of their aesthetic spiritual sense, with symmetry, smoothness, organicism, and grace exhibited in every unit and structure, all adorned copiously with twinkling lights and reflective of their familiarity with advanced Seraphim technology.
Cybran buildings and structures, on the other hand, have their own set of considerations related to functionality, efficacy, and pluripotency. Cybran designs are complex, asymmetric, inorganic, deconstructive, angular; very rarely do Cybran structures have high ceilings, and interior volume is kept to a minimum. Cybran bots crawl efficiently across terrain on many legs, their vehicles either hover low to the ground or walk in the manner of bots. Many Cybran units have multiple functions, and double or even triple for different roles, with as many bots and vehicles able to crawl as easily across the ocean bottom as their battleships can sprout legs and climb up onto the beach. Cybran manufacturing systems make extensive use of networked robots, with flying remote drones and automatic arms that circle and crawl over the unit or structure under construction.
Experimentals
- Monkeylord: Experimental Spiderbot This unit is a terrifying sight on optical sensors and a more terrifying one on radar, since it is rarely seen out of omni range. The beam weapon is powerful, the electron bolters are the real gem; they're able to destroy a large amount of units from afar. The AA is not very good on this unit, so escort it with Geminis, which won't give away the ML's position by radar. Its torpedoes are almost useless, so escort it with subs. The anti air can only wipe out only 1 or 2 strategic bombers before they attack. so escort it with Bangers and Geminis.
- Soul Ripper: Experimental Gunship This unit spells death for any army in the field, but cannot effectively assault an enemy base. These are more suited to tearing up firebases and armies out in the field, so use accordingly. More experienced commanders know that this thing is a flying mass bank, so if you get attacked by one, make sure to reclaim it to (re)build your base. Also ensure that the Soul Ripper is guarded by Gemini, because its anti-air is mediocre.
- Scathis: Experimental Mobile Rapid-Fire Artillery This unit can bombard an enemy base with a huge amount of shells in a short period of time but must be escorted to a sufficiently close point to fire. While it is very good at shelling bases, don't use it to take out an army as it probably won't hit very many units. It takes several minutes to destroy a base, so make sure you can destroy the inevitable assault that will come. This weapon can overwhelm shields. they can destroy more then 1 shield at one time because of the big damage radius.
- Megalith: Experimental Megabot With its dual torpedo launchers and increased underwater movement speed, the Megalith performs very well as an anti-naval unit. However, it is a force to be reckoned with on the ground as well. Like all experimentals, it requires an AA escort as its own AA cannons perform poorly even against T2 units. However, it can produce that escort itself with its factory eggs.