These fairly unusual devices extend from the weapons area and have a reach exceeding the physical ship and even slightly beyond the defensive shielding system (however, when shields are up, the arms can not pass through the shields when they are activated). The original functions of these arms are numerous.
The first function is to push away debris from the ship which strays too close without stressing the SPIKE, and without needing to activate the primary shields. Activating the primary shields could prevent or complicate bringing matter, shuttles, mecha, or rescued people inside the ship. It could also damage sensitive components which may be worth being salvaged, and prolong the rescue process, where every moment is critical. The grapplers can also be used to grasp and manipulate sensitive objects that can’t be carried by the graviton beam projectors. The reach of the grapplers actually permit them to carry objects and pods to the rear of the ship, where a third internal grappler system can carry the salvaged object or the escape pod inside without delay. This further speeds up the rescue process if a mecha or shuttle is unavailable. As such, the grapplers, while relatively low-tech, are extremely reliable and a fantastic asset to the nature of the Yggdrasillian ship’s line of work. The grapplers are also very high speed, and can be controlled manually with a glove system, a tactile interface, or more normally by an independent computer system. The grip of the Yggdrasill Grappler System (YGS) is variable and can range from very light on sensitive components to strong for ripping apart bulkheads (or crushing enemy mechas), which is one of the reasons it has its own independent computer system.
The grapplers are made up of five digits, with treads that act as fingerprints to grip objects. No two treads are meant to be alike, so that if a grappler system is used in a crime, it can be traced. Filed down treads are harder to trace, but make a grappler’s grip less functional. Each digit has three joints, and the whole assembly is mounted on a larger arm which has three joints. The fingers rotate around a central point on a very dynamic system, and all fingers are opposable (another need for the independent computer system: A normal human hand is incapable of using the grapplers to their full advantage with tactile or glove controls. Even a SLICS or SPINE would have problems, as it would require nerve connections which do not exist due to the dynamic and omni-opposable nature of the fingers. However, there is a “manual mode” which locks the fingers in a more humanoid configuration if the computer is disabled.). This allows a much better grip than even a human hand can provide on the oddly-shaped debris which the Yggdrasill commonly comes in contact with.
One of the primary attack patterns, once the shields are down, would be to disable the grappler systems. The grapplers, however, are very fast-moving and efficient in their movement. The best bet is to attack them where they affix to the ship. Unfortunately, if you manage to get past the grapplers, which can actually turn back toward the ship, you also have to deal with the superconductor mobile gun turrets.