A Side View of one of the Tiamats.
The Space Pirate Anti-Air Cannon "Tiamat" is a giant, automatic design of turret made to guard areas from aerial attacks. They so far have only appeared on planet Bryyo in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
Description
Tiamat turrets are powered by Fuel Gel. Ammuntition is stored in three racks around the turret. The top domed part of the turret can extend upwards to reach higher points for shooting. A balcony area can also be extended for easy access to the Tiamat. The Turrets have six "legs" and have a retractable ammunition rack in between each. A clamp on the base can be opened by kinetic stress, which releases the ammo rounds one at a time. If the all the Fuel Gel ammo is destroyed by Beam fire, the turret will ignite due to Fuel Gel's volatile properties. The Pirates had fitted an electromagnetic barrier around the clamp on one turret to engage when one of the ammo rounds was destroyed. This was likey a fail-safe to prevent the destruction of the Turret and alert Pirate forces.
A locking system can be used in conjunction with the Turret to prevent the clamp from being opened by unauthorised users. These locks are lever-like in appearence and up-to three can be placed around the Turret. These locks can be disengaged rather easily, and so require protection. If all three locks are disengaged, all three ammunition racks will open at once.
Tiamat Turrets may also be powered by Phazon, as both encountered turrets had vines and fungus of Phazon nature entwining around the structure.
Appearances
One Tiamat Turret was under construction by Pirate Aerotroopers at Bryyo Fire. It was protected from strikes by two Jamming Beacons, but Samus was able to bring them offline and use her Ship's Missiles to destroy the turret beyond repair.
Two more were completed and in place at Bryyo Thorn Jungle, protecting the Seed Shield Generator there. Samus was met by heavy Pirate forces, but managed to destroy the first by opening the Fuel Gel-powered ammunition hatches and igniting all three. This destroyed the first Turret. The second turret was guarded by Aerotroopers who had placed three locks preventing the ammo hatches from being opened. Samus was able to use the Grapple Lasso to disengage all three locks and destroy the ammo. With the Turrets both destroyed, Samus called in her ship to destroy the final Seed Shield Generator, so that she could travel to the seed.
Trivia
- In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is a goddess who personifies the sea. Tiamat is considered the monstrous embodiment of primordial chaos. Although there are no early precedents for it, some sources identify her with images of a sea serpent or dragon, In the Enûma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, she gives birth to the first generation of deities; she later makes war upon them and is killed by the storm-god Marduk. The heavens and the earth are formed from her divided body.
- Several Turrets also appear on the Pirate Homeworld that look similar to the Tiamats. However, they have a visor like area and so are not automatic but manual. They have two arms both aquipped with guns. They can swivel 360 degree turns.
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