The CSH-01-XA "Gley Lancer" is the titular protagonist of the 1992 Sega Genesis shoot 'em up Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer (or Gley Lancer for short). It is a prototype starfighter built by the Earth Federation Navy that was comandeered by Lucia Cabrock in order to rescue her father Admiral Ken, who was kidnapped by aliens.
History[]
In the year 2025 A.D., the Earth Federation is being ambushed by an unknown enemy. The Earth Federation Navy's First Fleet engages in battle with the enemy, but is subsequently overpowered, leading to over 15% of the fleet being destroyed, as well as the fleet's flagship Oberon, alongside its admiral Ken Cabrock to being abducted to another part of space. The Navy's second fleet carrier Ariel receives word of the Admiral's disappearance and informs his 16-year-old daughter Lucia about the news. During the briefing, she is informed that a new starfighter is being developed in order to locate his flagship's position and rescue him. Fearing that her father may die, Lucia devises a plan with her close friend Teim to hijack a prototype of the starfighter that is store in the flagship's bay and fly it in order to save her father. Upon reaching the bay, she boards the craft, dubbed the CSH-01-XA "Gley Lancer" and despite getting caught in the process, the fleet's captain reluctantly allows them to launch, noting that the pain of possibly losing her father is too heart-wrenching for her to ignore, but at the same time warns them that the fighter has not completed its testing phase.
The Gley Lancer travels through three regions of space: Saturn's Rings, a Lake, and a cave, in each one, the craft encounters resistance from the alien forces that attacked the first fleet and battles them as well as their commanders in order to proceed with the mission at hand. After clearing the third area, Lucia receives a broken communication from her father, calling out for help, she responds by telling him that she will find him soon enough.
The craft then travels to another three locations: a High-Speed Passageway, an Enemy Battleship located deep within outer space, and a sea of clouds; once again engaging against the aliens' forces. Once these regions are cleared, Lucia receives a message from her commanding lieutenant who reprimands her for stealing the experimental craft, but also being notified that the captain has notified the Federation's Headquarters to send reinforcements to aid her in the mission, before stating that if they decline, he will come to aid her. He then disconnects, warning Lucia to be careful.
The craft once again proceeds through three more locations: an ice-filled cavern, a labyrinth, and a mechanical base, where it battles through even tougher alien forces than before. Once the base is cleared, Lucia receives an urgent message from her father, telling her that he is being pursued by an alien armada in deep space, Lucia pilots the Gley lancer to his coordinates, where she encounters heavy resistance from her father's kidnappers. The Gley Lancer manages to destroy the armada's commander , and soon afterwards receives reinforcements from Lucia's own fleet, led by her carrier's captain. She is informed that the aliens' forces are continuing to increase, but that now is the chance to destroy them once and for all. Lucia decides only she has the firepower to take on the forces, and decides to confront the aliens on her own using the Gley Lancer.
The Gley Lancer travels to the location of where the enemy forces reside, and manages to destroy the bulk of their fleet, afterwards the craft encounters the aliens' leader. The leader proves to be a formidable foe, as not only is it protected with heavy firepower, but it also overwhelms the Gley Lancer by multiplying itself. Despite the difficulty, the Gley Lancer overcomes these obstacles and destroys the aliens' leader, bringing an end to the terror they have caused to the Earth Federation's fleet.
Depending on whether the Gley Lancer manages to save Admiral Ken Cabrock's spacecraft in time, one of two endings will occur:
- In the Bad Ending, which occurs if the admiral's craft is destroyed, Lucia will be seen overlooking from the bay of her carrier, crying over the loss of her father. During the closing epilogue, it is stated that while the Earth Federation had successfully wiped out the aliens, they fear that it was only the beginning, as there could be more forces out there ready to attack the fleets in the foreseeable future. Doctor Gley, the man who designed the Gley Lancer, hopes that the craft's production will help the Federation when that time comes.
- In the Good Ending, which occurs if the admiral is saved in time, the Gley Lancer flies back to carrier Ariel, where Lucia is hail as a hero for saving her father's life. An image of her hugging her father is shown, before the Gley Lancer is shown in its hanger.
Specifications[]
| Width | 14.5 m |
| Length | 20.1 m |
| Height | 5.9 m (in flight) 5.2 m (on ground) |
| Crew | 1 |
| Speed | Mach 3.25 (maximum) Mach 1.25 (cruising) 220 km/h (stall) |
| Weight | 12,980 kg (dead) 24,420 kg (initial load capacity) 32,490 kg (maximum load capacity) |
| Leveling Rate | 17.820 |
| Minimum Landing Distance | 408 m |
Gunners[]
The Gunners are the most important tool utilized by the Gley Lancer. They are a pair of option-like satellites that are capable of aiming in multiple directions, whilst firing a wide range of different weapons. The first Gunner is deployed by collecting the first power-up, whilst the second one is deployed by the next power-up respectively, regardless of what weapon is obtained. At the beginning, the player has the option to choose the way the Gunners will maneuver while aiming in battle, where in most cases, they will be positioned above and below the craft. There are a total of seven types of maneuvers:
- Normal - the Gunners will aim in the direction that the Gley Lancer moves. The secondary fire button can be held to lock their firing direction. Based on the Red Pods from Image Fight.
- Reverse - the Gunners will aim in the direction opposite of where the Gley Lancer moves. The secondary fire button can be held to lock their firing direction.
- Search - the Gunners will automatically aim at the nearest enemy to the craft. The secondary fire button can be held to fire straight forwards or to have the Gunners aim at different enemies for better coverage.
- Multi - the Gunners' aim is limited to a 180 degree arc facing away from the craft, moving horizontally will cause the Gunners to aim in the direction of that movement. It prevents concentrated fire in all directions except in front of and behind the craft, but allows for being able to fire in three directions under the right circumstances. The secondary fire button, or moving the Gley Lancer vertically will allow the Gunners to fire in the same direction.
- Multi-R - the Gunners' aim is limited to a 180 degree arc facing away from the craft, moving horizontally will cause the Gunners to aim in the opposite direction of that movement. It prevents concentrated fire in all directions except in front of and behind the craft, but allows for being able to fire in three directions under the right circumstances. The secondary fire button, or moving the Gley Lancer vertically will allow the Gunners to fire in the same direction.
- Shadow - the Gunners will imitate the movement pattern of the craft, trailing behind it at short distance. It allows for constant concentrated fire, but restricts the aim to only facing forwards. The secondary fire button can be held to fix the positions of the Gunners. Based on the Options from Gradius.
- Roll - the Gunners will constantly rotate around the craft, positioning themselves at opposite ends of the rotation path. It allows for constant fire in all directions, but prevents any form of concentrated fire while this motion is active. The secondary fire button can be held to fix the Gunners to fire forward. Based on the CLAW from Thunder Force.
Weapons[]
Much of Gley Lancer's arsenal relies heavily on the use of Gunners. These weapons (as well as the aforementioned Gunners) can be obtained by collecting power-ups that are dropped by destroying Item Containers that regularly appear in-game.
- Main Shot - the default weapon of the Gley Lancer, it is a standard, rapid-fire cannon that deals moderate damage and can destroy most small emends with ease, but lacks any form of defensive spread. This weapon is universal to the craft, regardless of what weapon the Gunners are equipped with at any given time. The shots will change color depending on what weapon is currently active on the Gunners.
- Twin Shot - fires a rapid stream of double blue energy pulses, dealing moderate damage. The Gley Lancer will glow blue while this weapon is active.
- Laser - fires a thin white laser that penetrates through most enemies but deals below average damage. The Gley Lancer will glow white while this weapon is active.
- 5-Way - fires a spread of five energy shots. The shots have excellent coverage, but in turn have a slow fire rate, only allowing a single shot per Gunner to fired on-screen. The Gley Lancer will glow purple while this weapon is active.
- Burner - fires a flamethrower that deals high damage but has a limited range, it can track along solid surfaces, making it especially effective against ground and ceiling based enemies. The Gley Lancer will glow cyan while this weapon is active.
- Spread Bomb - fires flickering blue bombs. The weapon has a slow speed and fire rate, but in turn will explode upon hitting any enemy or surface, creating an explosion that deals splash damage to any enemy that is caught within its radius. The Gley Lancer will glow black while this weapon is active.
- Saber - generates a continuous purple beam that has a limited range similar to that of the Burner, but deals very high damage. The Gley Lancer will glow green while this weapon is active.
- Bound Shot - fires a rapid stream of green energy orbs that will reflect off any solid surface, allowing for massive coverage in tight areas. The Gley Lancer will glow red while this weapon is active.
Gallery[]
