The Drake Caterpillar is a large, modular cargo ship with a focus on significant capacity and flexibility. It is commonly used for legitimate commerce, extended search, and rescue missions. However, because of the low cost and popularity among civilians, the Caterpillar is known for being used by pirates as the storage location for their ill-gotten gains.[1][2]
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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'Best In Show 2949' | White and dark grey colour with purple accents and a IAE logo. Limited edition. Created to celebrate the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2949 event. [3] |
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'Pirate' | Dark olive green and dark grey colour with pirate decals. It's only available when defeating "Pirate Swarm" in Arena Commander. [4] |
| "Deck the Hull" | "Foundation Festival" | "Ghoulish Green" | "IceBreak" | "Mistwalker" | "Polar" | "Stormbringer" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | Pledge cost (USD) | Insurance | Availability | Sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-11-18 | 225 | LTI | Limited | Kickstarter final day addon [5] |
| 2013-09-20 | 225 | LTI | Limited | Caterpillar 72 hours flash sale [6] |
| 2013-11-20 | 245 | LTI | Time-limited | 2013 anniversary sale [7] |
| 2014-11-22 | 245 | 2 years | Time-limited | 2014 anniversary sale [8] |
| 2015-11-21 | 245 | 3 years | Time-limited | 2015 anniversary sale [9] |
| 2016-11-18 | 295 | 4 years | Time-limited | 2016 anniversary sale [10] |
| 2016-12-16 | 295 | 6 months | Time-limited | 2016 holiday sale [11] |
In the wake of the Cutlass' success in 28th Century, Drake Interplanetary's CEO and lead designer Jan Dredge was looking for a new project to move the company forward. Although the Cutlass enjoyed some success in commercial hauling, it is more known for its combat abilities. Dredge knew that they should take the same design principles and apply it to something much bigger. The Caterpillar prototype is initially unreviled at the 2871Intergalactic Aerospace Expo. The ship received a lot of critics for its old design, the negativity almost threatened the whole project. It wasn't until the reports of Caterpillar spread through the Empire, that the tide began to turn. People were floored by two things: the ability to mix and match cargo modules and the price.[2]
On 2903-06-21 SET, a Caterpillar broke out from heavy traffic, and rammed into an eriesium transport using the front sensor array as hooks to latch onto the hull. The front cargo door opened and pirates leapt onto the immobilized transport and cut their way inside while the turret engaged the shocked security detail.
Within five minutes, the security detail had been destroyed, the transport breached and the eriesium taken. The Command Module detached from the Caterpillar and the pirates disappeared back into the spacelane with their fighter accomplices. By the time authorities arrived, they found an image that permanently seared itself into the public's consciousness, a Drake Caterpillar attached to the vented husk of a transport.
Despite an exhaustive search through all the system, authorities never figured out who was behind the heist. The Caterpillar was forever tied with criminal element to the present after the event.[2]
If stood upright, a Caterpillar would be taller than the famed Lumière de L'espoir statue in Odyssa, Borea, near Drake's headquarters.[12]
