Editing The Yaotl (section)

== Forces of the Yaotl ==

=== Naval Forces ===

'''Type I: Nestship''': The only Yaotl ship observed to rival an Imperial cruiser in size, although like all Yaotl ships it is crewed by a single clan. Nestships are the only Yaotl ships to travel between the stars at sublight speeds, and are built around a central wormhole. The true lynchpins of a Yaotl raiding fleet, Nestships attempt to avoid combat and will scuttle themselves to avoid being captured if necessary; however, it is more likely that a raiding fleet will fight to the death to protect its Nestship, as it represents a huge investment in resources and their only method to return to Yaotl space. Nestships carry large amounts of Drakes, and bristle with automated point defense systems. Paradoxically, they are also more stealthy than smaller Yaotl ships, capable of disrupting an entire system's worth of sensors. 

'''Type II: Corsair''': The main capital ship in Yaotl fleets, roughly equivalent in size to an Imperial frigate. Corsairs are built around a central multi-pronged drive system that allows for extreme maneuverability compared to Imperial ships. Their small size, however, means that they are fairly fragile, something only compounded by the Yaotls lack of void shielding. Instead the Corsair relies on highly accurate automated point defenses and a vast array of electronic warfare devices. When operating in concert, a pack of Corsairs is all but untargetable, as sensor ghosts overwhelm Imperial cognitors and visual targeting is rendered useless by flashy diversions. Corsairs typically operate in Swarms, as their defenses are more potent when used in concert; in addition, though they punch above their weight compared to Imperial ships, concerted firepower remains necessary for Yaotl fleets to defeat larger vessels.

'''Type III: Drake''': At first, the Drake was thought to be a Yaotl interceptor. Recovered wreckage however has revealed that Drakes are in fact highly modified Yaotl, the individual organism being lost in a sea of cybernetic implements. Drakes typically cling to other Yaotl vessels, exposed to the vacuum, until they are within range of an enemy vessel. Drakes rely largely on their stealth to avoid destruction, acting in concert with other vessels to bring down much larger ships. Drakes are quite superior to Imperial interceptors in a dogfight, although should they loose the element of surprise of face overpowering numbers their fragility means they will crumble quickly. 

Making Imperial Navy response to raids difficult is that no two Yaotl ships are exactly alike, each being designed personally by an abnormally powerful Alpha and in many cases in service for centuries if not millenia due to the immensity of the investment required to build a single vessel, resulting in perpetual modifications and an ever-increasing functional disorder. In the rare advent that Yaotl ships are taken intact, the alien workings of their minds is revealed in the nature of the ships layout, a sprawling mass of unfathomable passages and subsystems, many of which are seemingly non-functional but when brought offline having an unpredictable effect. More than one Imperial boarding team has been wiped out by putting a slug in a seemingly aesthetic wall decoration that turned out to, when damaged, cause the local atmosphere to be increased in pressure tenfold, or other such esoteric consequences. Many remark that Yaotl vessels are more akin to space hulks than true starships, but the uncanny functionality these ships demonstrate when in the hands of a Yaotl alpha belies this.

=== Ground Forces ===

The Yaotl do not appear to coordinate in engagements at all beyond the level of an alpha herding its thralls towards the enemy and watching the ensuing carnage unfold. Yaotl do not seem, other than thralls of an alpha fighting in the same general area, to utilize unit-based tactics at all. Yaotl warriors seldom appear to have uniform equipment, body modifications or even to employ a coherent approach to warfare. Their seeming lack of socialization in human terms, however, may simply mean that their means of coordination are simply incomprehensible to the human mind. Mechanicus observers have remarked that Yaotl Riotswarms demonstrate coordination in response to threats faced by Yaotl forces of an entirely different alpha, sometimes located hundreds of kilometers away. Whatever the nature of this response, it is notably slower than that of more conventional species. If not for the unpredictability and chaotic nature of Yaotl assaults, Yaotl ground forces would be easy prey to a resolute and coordinated foe. As it is, the rare advent of Yaotl infantry being encountered outside boarding actions or invasion of a world already nearly bombarded into submission from orbit, they have tended to lose engagements with the Imperial Army.

No two Yaotl warriors are alike. Some have modified their body to the point that they can be easily mistaken for an armored vehicle while others are stripped of all unnecessary tissue and implants and race into enemy lines unarmed at breakneck speed. One common aspect of Yaotl warfare, however, is its heavy reliance on deception; most Yaotl warriors will deliberately disorient victims using a wide variety of technologies and tactics. Against Imperial forces with poor morale or discipline, this generally results in the battlefield degenerating into anarchy as chains of command cease to bind individual soldiers. The Yaotl Riotswarms have two primary weaknesses; the first is a resolute and coordinate foe, who can systematically engage in area denial until Yaotl warriors are forced into ever increasing pockets and eliminated, or through targeting the Alpha of the Riotswarm, easily distinguishable by its self-preserving behavior in contrast to the unpredictable and sometimes suicidal behavior of its thralls. 

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