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So I have always been intrigued by the Pirates getting the free Special Ability of the Marine Detachment, and all that this then offers to either an AI or human led Pirates Faction. This then got me to thinking about what would be the best Special Ability to give to various Factions.
Here is the pertinent section from the alphax.txt file that includes a brief description of the ability:
#ABILITIES
Super Former, 1, EcoEng2, Super, 000000010111, Terraform rate doubled
Deep Radar, 0, MilAlg, , 010000111111, Sees 2 spaces
Cloaking Device, 1, Surface, Cloaked, 000001111001, Invisible; Ignores ZOCs
Amphibious Pods, 1, DocInit, Amphibious,000000001001, Attacks from ship
Drop Pods, 2, MindMac, Drop, 000000111001, Makes air drops
Air Superiority, 1, DocAir, SAM, 000000001111, Attacks air units
Deep Pressure Hull, 1, Metal, Sub, 000000111010, Operates underwater
Carrier Deck, 1, Metal, Carrier, 000101101010, Mobile Airbase
AAA Tracking, 1, MilAlg, AAA, 000010001011, x2 vs. air attacks
Comm Jammer, -1, Subat, ECM, 000010111001, +50% vs. fast units
Antigrav Struts, 1, Gravity, Grav, 000000111001, +1 movement rate (or +Reactor*2 for Air)
Empath Song, 2, CentEmp, Empath, 000010001111, +50% attack vs. Psi
Polymorphic Encryption, 1, Algor, Secure, 000000111111, x2 cost to subvert
Fungicide Tanks, 1, Fossil, Fungicidal,000000010111, Clear fungus at double speed
High Morale, 1, Integ, Trained, 000000001111, Gains morale upgrade
Heavy Artillery, -7, Poly, Artillery, 000010001001, Bombards
Clean Reactor, 2, BioEng, Clean, 000000111111, Requires no support
Blink Displacer, 1, Matter, Blink, 000000001111, Bypass base defenses
Hypnotic Trance, -1, Brain, Trance, 000010111111, +50% defense vs. Psi
Heavy Transport, 1, Disable, Heavy, 000100100111, +50% transport capacity
Nerve Gas Pods, 1, Chemist, X, 000011001101, Can +50% offense (Atrocity)
Repair Bay, 1, Metal, Repair, 000100100111, Repairs ground units on board
Non-Lethal Methods, 1, Integ, Police, 000000001001, x2 Police powers
Slow Unit, 0, Disable, Slow, 000000111111, -1 moves
Soporific Gas Pods, 1, Bioadap, Gas, 000001001101, -2 Enemy morale vs. non-native
Dissociative Wave, 2, CentPsi, Wave, 000000111111, Fizzles special abilities
Marine Detachment, 1, AdapDoc, Marine, 000001001010, Capture enemy ships
Fuel Nanocells, 1, MatComp, Nanocell, 000000111100, Increased air range
Algorithmic Enhancement,1, NanoMin, Enhanced, 100000111111, Halves probe team failure
Of course some of the Special Abilities automatically disqualify themselves: no one would want the free "Heavy Artillery" ability, nor would the "Heavy Transport" ability be something anyone would wish for if they could only choose one. However the rest of the SA's, under varying circumstances, can be extremely useful!
If I could only choose one for a Faction (AI or Human led) why I guess I'd choose Clean Reactors, simply because I could then pound out tons of units without ever incurring a support penalty. A close second would be a Cloaking Device, but of course that only works against Humans..... 
Here is the pertinent section from the alphax.txt file that includes a brief description of the ability:
#ABILITIES
Super Former, 1, EcoEng2, Super, 000000010111, Terraform rate doubled
Deep Radar, 0, MilAlg, , 010000111111, Sees 2 spaces
Cloaking Device, 1, Surface, Cloaked, 000001111001, Invisible; Ignores ZOCs
Amphibious Pods, 1, DocInit, Amphibious,000000001001, Attacks from ship
Drop Pods, 2, MindMac, Drop, 000000111001, Makes air drops
Air Superiority, 1, DocAir, SAM, 000000001111, Attacks air units
Deep Pressure Hull, 1, Metal, Sub, 000000111010, Operates underwater
Carrier Deck, 1, Metal, Carrier, 000101101010, Mobile Airbase
AAA Tracking, 1, MilAlg, AAA, 000010001011, x2 vs. air attacks
Comm Jammer, -1, Subat, ECM, 000010111001, +50% vs. fast units
Antigrav Struts, 1, Gravity, Grav, 000000111001, +1 movement rate (or +Reactor*2 for Air)
Empath Song, 2, CentEmp, Empath, 000010001111, +50% attack vs. Psi
Polymorphic Encryption, 1, Algor, Secure, 000000111111, x2 cost to subvert
Fungicide Tanks, 1, Fossil, Fungicidal,000000010111, Clear fungus at double speed
High Morale, 1, Integ, Trained, 000000001111, Gains morale upgrade
Heavy Artillery, -7, Poly, Artillery, 000010001001, Bombards
Clean Reactor, 2, BioEng, Clean, 000000111111, Requires no support
Blink Displacer, 1, Matter, Blink, 000000001111, Bypass base defenses
Hypnotic Trance, -1, Brain, Trance, 000010111111, +50% defense vs. Psi
Heavy Transport, 1, Disable, Heavy, 000100100111, +50% transport capacity
Nerve Gas Pods, 1, Chemist, X, 000011001101, Can +50% offense (Atrocity)
Repair Bay, 1, Metal, Repair, 000100100111, Repairs ground units on board
Non-Lethal Methods, 1, Integ, Police, 000000001001, x2 Police powers
Slow Unit, 0, Disable, Slow, 000000111111, -1 moves
Soporific Gas Pods, 1, Bioadap, Gas, 000001001101, -2 Enemy morale vs. non-native
Dissociative Wave, 2, CentPsi, Wave, 000000111111, Fizzles special abilities
Marine Detachment, 1, AdapDoc, Marine, 000001001010, Capture enemy ships
Fuel Nanocells, 1, MatComp, Nanocell, 000000111100, Increased air range
Algorithmic Enhancement,1, NanoMin, Enhanced, 100000111111, Halves probe team failure
Of course some of the Special Abilities automatically disqualify themselves: no one would want the free "Heavy Artillery" ability, nor would the "Heavy Transport" ability be something anyone would wish for if they could only choose one. However the rest of the SA's, under varying circumstances, can be extremely useful!
If I could only choose one for a Faction (AI or Human led) why I guess I'd choose Clean Reactors, simply because I could then pound out tons of units without ever incurring a support penalty. A close second would be a Cloaking Device, but of course that only works against Humans.....
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