Nanite Systems developed the technology that saw the few survivors of the Collapse through the Exodus, that allowed them to thrive after landing in Sanctum, and that still sustains their Aphinor Republic's fleets largely unchanged. That same technology, many argue, also caused the Collapse - if not for those two breakthrough technologies, the slaughter might have ended with the Nadia Republic that birthed it.

The first technology - initially ordered by the Nadia Republic's government - was the Yggdrasil Command System, battlefield management software that allowed lone operators to command many autonomous vehicles (and eventually allowed the crew of one Commander to command the forces of an entire star system). Field commanders supplied objectives, and the system used the resources at its disposal to achieve them efficiently and quickly. It learned constantly, improving its tactics with every step it took. At the time, many objected to the very idea of automated killing machines - but those objections quickly dissipated when the Collapse began.

The second - what the company was founded to do - was automated end-to-end manufacturing, from ore and scrap to finished machines without a single person in the loop. They only perfected this towards the end of the Collapse, but the work they did until then kept the war going through increasingly dire straits. Once they did perfect it, it was only a matter of time before the end - a single NS Avalon fabricator could be dispatched into interstellar space, and come back in a year with a fleet and another Avalon. It was their work that finally broke the Sword of Akasha and drowned the Auraxis System in metal and fire - just before the last of known space was reduced to ash and glass.

Only long after the Collapse were these miraculous technologies turned to more peaceful things. Humanity has flourished anew because of them. However, Nanite Systems itself continues to exist, charged with maintaining and developing the arsenal the Aphinor Republic hopes it never needs again.

As the Aphinor Republic inherited the machines of Nanite Systems, so too did it inherit the classification system and terminology that its machines used.

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        Planetside (air and ground vehicles)

Planetside, heavier vehicles are avoided - if a swarm of small, cheap vehicles can't do the job, then it's solved with orbital bombardment.

Clearers are area superiority craft. Maneuverable, lethal, and expendable.
Harassers are support craft - they tie up adversaries and provide close air support for allies.
Sunderers are assault craft, designed to dispose of hardened emplacements and large vehicles.
Searchers are recon and relay craft - relaying long-range comms and gathering data from up close.

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        Orbital (spacecraft)

In offensive engagements, an artillery doctrine is rigorously followed - lancers obliterate targets from range or wear down the enemy in chases all over a star system.
Even the smallest spacecraft are still as large as a skyscraper - small craft cannot carry either enough fuel nor firepower to be effective.

Lancers are long-range attackers, striking from afar with missiles and directed-energy weaponry.
Shielders are designed to draw attention and intercept attacks before they damage other ships or infrastructure.
Rangers are multi-purpose vehicles, able to attack and defend equally well. These are expensive and rare.
Commanders are the only crewed combat ships, from which orders are sent to the rest of the fleet.
Fabricators are manufacturing and repair ships, which maintain and build other vehicles.

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        Auxiliary (support craft)

Shuttles are dedicated transport craft, carrying their payloads to and from orbit and beyond.
Collectors are material collection vehicles, ranging from small asteroid-mining drones to large gas collectors.