Collector Cruiser

A Collector Cruiser is a massive vessel capable of carrying large numbers of Collectors and Seeker swarms along with the equivalent of an entire human colony's population and many groups of Husks. These cruisers are the only type of Collector ships seen ingame.

Design and Capabilities
The ship is vast in size, easily dwarfing both the original Normandy and its larger descendant. As is typical of Collector technology, the vessel has a hybrid design combining large organic protrusions with a metallic superstructure. The interior consists of cave-like hallways and vast open areas traversed by floating hexagonal platforms. Despite its huge size this ship is capable of landing on the surface of a planet, although it requires an enormous rocket engine to propel it back into space.

The cruisers are armed with a large forward firing beam weapon capable of firing multiple shots in quick succession or a single devastating blast. The weapon is powerful and accurate enough to cripple an Alliance Navy frigate in only a few shots. It also appears to be equipped with sensors capable of detecting a vessel with a heat retaining stealth system (such as the Normandy). Details of this capability are never revealed. Although they can endure the atmospheric heat of reentry to land on planets, Collector cruiser hulls are vulnerable to sustained bombardment from Alliance anti-ship turrets, suggesting they are not warships.

It is speculated that all Collector ships are equipped with a Identity Friend/Foe system that allows them to traverse the Omega 4 Relay without harm.

The choice of designation as a "cruiser" is curious, since the vessels huge size and powerful weaponry is more in line with a dreadnought.

Story
The Collectors used these ships to abduct the inhabitants of numerous human colonies. They would approach quietly, disabling communications and sensors, land on a planet and unleash massive Seeker swarms to paralyze the colonists. Collector Drones would then gather up the colonists, store them in pupae-like pods and transport them onto the cruiser, which would then use its powerful engine to launch itself back into space.

Commander Shepard first encountered a cruiser when one ambushed the SSV Normandy shortly after the destruction of Sovereign. Initially believed to be a Geth warship it somehow was able to detect the Normandy despite its sleath systems. The cruiser demonstrated its incredible firepower and easily disabled the Normandy with several precise blasts before circling around and destroying the cippled ship. While many of the crew evacuated, Shepard, Navigator Pressly, and twenty other crewmen were killed in the attack.

Another cruiser (later revealed as the same one that attacked the Normandy) was used in the Collector assault on Horizon. The resurrected Commander Shepard and the Normandy crew used the colony's defense system to drive off the ship and weakened it. However, the ship had already captured at least half the colonys population, and the ship's afterburners destroyed several buildings and much of the surrounding land during liftoff.

The same cruiser was later found in a distant area of space, apparently deserted after reportedly being disabled by a turian patrol. Shepard's team investigated, only to discover that it was a Collector trap. Despite firece fighting the team was able to escape, and were able to gain valuable intel from the ship's database, identifying the need for an IFF code to acess the Omega 4 Relay.

A cruiser (unknown if the same that made the previous attacks or a different one) made a second attack on the SSV Normandy SR-2 while it was intergating the IFF from the Derelict Reaper. This time, the cruiser deployed was able to dock with the Normandy due to a virus which had corrupted the systems aboard the Normandy and had been transmitting the ships location to the Collectors. Scions, Praetorians and Collector soliders boarded the Normandy and the entire crew, save Joker, Shepard and his team, were killed or captured and brought onto the cruiser. After Joker escaped with the Normandy the cruiser presumably headed for the Collector base.

A cruiser would be encountered one final time during the assault on the Collector base. The cruiser was deployed to take on the attacking Normandy. Joker piloted the Normandy into a deadly dogfight with the cruiser, which was eventually destroyed. If the Normandy was upgrded with newer weapons it destroys the crusier at a long range with little difficultly. If not it is destroyed with the Normandy's standard weapons at point blank range. However, the explosion of the cruiser was able to damage the Normandy enough to force it to make a crash landing on the surface of the Collector base.

With the destruction of the Collector base and the possible annihilation of the Collectors as a whole, it is doubtfully these ships will be seen again.

Upgrade Opportunity
During the time investigating the apparently disabled Collector ship, Shepard's team finds a number of advanced weapons taken from one of the colonies. These weapons can be equiped for use, however, you can only receive advanced training for one weapon, so choose wisely. The weapons found are as follows:

Very rare krogan shotgun. Deals high damage at short range; less effective at long range. Effective against armor, shields and biotic barriers. It is of human design but is only used by krogan, due to the fact that the kickback from a single shot is enough to break a human's arm. Can be acquired and used by Shepard if you choose it as advanced training when the option arises. It has the lowest clip size of any shotgun, firing only a single shot before the thermal clip has to be ejected. It is protected by Fabrication Rights Management (FRM) technology, this weapon is nearly impossible to reproduce and is prohibitively expensive.
 * M-300 Claymore Heavy Shotgun

A fully-automatic light machine gun. Can be acquired and used by Shepard only if a Soldier class and if it is chosen as advanced training when the option arises. Though only moderately accurate, it has a prodigious rate of fire and its thermal clip capacity allows it to fire eighty shots before needing to be reloaded. High rate of fire, with a moderate spread and very high ammo and clip count, this makes this weapon efficient at close-medium engagements. By the year 2185, it had come into usage by select mercenary commanders, such as Kuril and Jentha.
 * M-76 Revenant

Accurate and deadly sniper rifle. Effective against armor,shields, and biotic barriers. Upgrades the Viper Sniper Rifle. Weighing in at 39 kilograms, the Widow Anti-Material Rifle is primarily used by sniper teams in assault missions against armored vehicles or krogan. While kinetic barriers offer effective protection on vehicles, the kind generated by conventional military field generators are far too weak against the Widow. The Widow was never designed to be carried and fired by a human. Although this modified model can be carried, no ordinary human could fire it without shattering an arm. However, this weapon can be acquired and used by Shepard with advanced training when the option arises.
 * Widow Anti-Material Rifle