Sclerite

Lore & Background

The Vanguard Corps was established in the aftermath of the first recorded Breach event, when Lancers—chitinous, hive-minded creatures from an adjacent dimensional fold—began materializing in clusters across multiple worlds. The Corps' doctrine is simple: contain, suppress, seal. Every Vanguard is paired with a purpose-built Mech, and the pairing is as much a matter of engineering fit as it is of pilot temperament. Sclerite's rig is built around a reinforced plating philosophy; the name itself evokes the hardened sclerite plates found on arthropod exoskeletons, a deliberate nod to the enemy the Corps fights.

In the Breach scenarios, Sclerite is often the unit called upon when allied Vanguards are spread thin across the grid and a Lancer Queen is attempting to establish a spawning nexus. The Mech's special ability centers on generating a protective field that absorbs incoming damage and prevents Lancers from flanking vulnerable allies. This makes Sclerite a linchpin in multi-Vanguard formations, where one unit must sacrifice offensive tempo to keep the rest alive long enough to deliver the killing blow.

The Corps' internal records treat each Breach as a separate operational theatre. Sclerite has seen action across at least two distinct world-settings within the game's campaign structure, adapting tactics to the specific Lancer compositions and environmental hazards of each. The pilot's identity beyond the callsign is deliberately left to the player's imagination in the base game, a design choice that lets the community project their own narrative onto the character.

In Their Own Story

The Breach opened at 0340, a jagged violet seam splitting the sky above the plaza. Sclerite's Mech hit the grid with a hydraulic shudder, plating locking into formation. Three Lancers dropped from the rift, mandibles clicking, already calculating vectors toward the cluster of civilians huddled behind the market stalls.

Sclerite didn't strike first. That was the discipline. The Mech raised its shield array—a hexagonal lattice of hardened alloy that hummed at a frequency the Lancers' sensory organs couldn't track—and stepped between the swarm and the wounded Vanguard two grids to the east. A Lancer's stinger punched through the shield. The plating groaned, spider-webbed, but held. Sclerite's pilot felt the impact in the seat, a dull thud behind the sternum, and corrected the heading by two degrees.

The second Lancer lunged. Sclerite let it. The shield absorbed the blow, the Lancer's momentum carried it into the third, and both tumbled in a tangle of chitin. The allied Vanguard, unblocked now, swept in with a wide arc of energy and ended the pair in one motion.

The Breach was still open. Sclerite held the line. That was the job.

Reader's Guide

Mech: Sclerite Pilot: Sclerite (Vanguard callsign) Base profile: High HP, moderate Attack, high Defense. The rig is built to absorb punishment and keep allies in the fight.

Special ability: Generates a protective field on the adjacent grid that reduces incoming damage to allied Vanguards for the remainder of the turn. This makes Sclerite a natural anchor in multi-unit formations, especially when a Lancer Queen is attempting to establish a spawn point and the allied Vanguards need time to reposition.

In the Breach timeline, Sclerite is typically deployed in the mid-to-late phase of a scenario, after the initial Lancer wave has been thinned and the remaining threats are concentrated. The tactical role is less about dealing raw damage and more about preventing the enemy from picking off vulnerable allies one by one. Pairing Sclerite with a high-attack Vanguard creates a natural offense-defense axis: one unit draws aggro and shields, the other delivers the finishing blow.

Sclerite's presence on the grid also shifts Lancer targeting behavior. Because the shield field is a visible, trackable object on the tactical map, Lancers will often prioritize attacking the field before engaging the pilot directly, giving the allied formation an extra turn to reposition or strike. This makes Sclerite a force multiplier in scenarios with multiple Lancer types active simultaneously.

Did You Know?

• The name 'Sclerite' is borrowed from arthropod biology, where sclerites are the hardened plates that make up an insect's exoskeleton—a deliberate thematic echo of the Lancers the Corps fights.
• In Into the Breach, the player can rename their Vanguard, meaning Sclerite's pilot identity is intentionally left open for player interpretation in the base game.
• The game's tactical grid means Sclerite's shield ability has a very specific spatial footprint: it protects a defined set of adjacent tiles, making positioning as important as the ability itself.
• Into the Breach's multiple Breach scenarios are set in distinct fictional worlds with different visual palettes and Lancer compositions, so Sclerite's tactical role shifts depending on which world's Breach is active.