Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To make a supportive unit battle droid in the Lucerne Labs line-up.
- Image Source: originally here
- Canon Link: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
- Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi, Closed-Market
- Model: L4 Auxilia Support Battle Droid
Production: Mass
- Modularity: Auxilia Module options (as described below)
- Material: Duraplast armor plating, standard battle droid components
- Classification: Fourth Degree
- Weight: 75 kilograms
- Height: 1.7 meters
- Movement: Hexapod (6 legs)
- Armaments: none (standard) - armaments may be added per modules listed below
- Misc. Equipment:
1 Auxilia Module Hardpoint - Internal Comlink
- Ionization Buffer
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Auxilia Module: Auxilias are designed more as a chassis that enables it to carry a single specialty battlefield support module. This module allows the Auxilia to be configured to perform a variety of combat and combat support roles, typically at a squad or platoon level.
- Dual Droid Brain: Auxilias technically have two droid brains. The first is located within the droid's insectiod head and is responsible for the droid's basic movements. The second resides inside the Auxilia module itself and focuses on operating that module as well as providing basic mission guidance to the driver droid brain.
- Adaptable: Auxilias can be adopted into a number of roles thanks to the modular hardpoint. With a simple switch of modules, an Auxilia can be anything from light artillery unit to a mobile shield generator or a battlefield mechanic.
- Multi-Terrain: Auxilias transverse by using six highly articulated legs, which makes them adept at crossing different types of terrain and navigating past or through different obstacles all while keeping the back (and Auxilia module) very stable.
Weaknesses:
- Lightly Defended: By default, Auxilias have fairly limited defenses, enough that it can withstand several glancing hits or a single direct shot from a small arm before its armor is penetrated. This droids are designed to be deployed in the rear of tactical formations, and generally do not do well when placed in the fore because of their light defenses.
- Binary-Only: While Auxilias can understand Basic, they can only speak in binary, much like the popular R-series of astromech droids. While some users have little difficulty understanding it, more users resign themselves to the fact that they will have to rely on translators or data-jacks to really understand what the droids are saying. This is typically not ideal in a combat situation.
DESCRIPTION
While many battle droids fulfill the traditional role of infantry, Lucerne Labs recognized that there are other combat support roles that a droid could fulfill. Recognizing that a key obstacle to making such specialist droids is often financial, Lucerne Labs opted not to make a single specialist droid, but rather a mobile platform that could be specialized to fulfill various roles by modules. The resulting L4 Auxilia is a large, insect-shaped droid that typically lingers just in the back of combat formations, where its light armor isn't much of handicap but where it can still function in its specialty role. While it can operate as a direct fire unit with some of its modules, most Auxilias are used in an adjunct role such as mobile shield generators, probots, electronic warfare, battlefield repair, and as sappers. This versatility and budget-consciousness has seen the Auxilia achieve small and steady sales throughout the galaxy, but it has not been the breakaway success hoped for by the company.
Technical Explanations:
Personality: Auxilias technically have two droid brains, one which operates the chassis itself and another droid brain built into the Auxilia module. The base inherent driver droid brain of the Auxilia does not have a personality at all. Unsurprisingly, it comes off as coldly impersonal with those that it interacts with and does not communicate except when needed for practical purposes. The droid brain within each Auxilia module itself has a fairly simple personality matrix. Each matrix possesses a singular emotion trait that provides motivation to use its associated module to the best of its ability. Thus, a weapons-armed Auxilia tends to be 'aggressive' compared to a sensor pack Auxilia which may be described as 'curious'. The two droid brains of the Auxilia must work together for the unit to operate correctly, though the module droid brain always has superiority in making decisions. While this seems to work fairly well for a modular system, Auxilias can be fairly quirky because of this unusual arrangement, especially right after a module change, when they are sometimes behave in a way described as being bipolar.
Skillset: The base Auxilia droid brain has a very limited skillset, typically only have the knowledge to operate its chassis effectively (navigation) and a basic understanding of military tactics in order to ensure that it is in the most optimal place to survive on the battlefield. The secondary and more dominant droid brain found in each individual Auxilia module also possesses an understanding of military tactics to a greater extent, along with possessing all the technical skills and understanding to operate its module's equipment to the best of its ability.
Chassis: The Auxilia's chassis borrows heavily from the BT-16 perimeter droid, which was chosen as a basis for the Auxilia's design due its size and ability to remain stable while moving over uneven terrain. Lucerne Labs did beef up the servomotors in order to carry larger and heavier payloads. This transmission redesign also affected the droid's balance, which led to further redesign. The basic 'driver' droid brain is unsurprisingly housed in the droid's head along with a basic droid sensor pack based primarily on EPRs. The droid's power plant along with the equipment needed for its Auxilia module are housed in its body behind the head, along with its locomotion systems.
Locomotion: Auxilia move around a set of six legs, closely mimicking ants and other insectiod movement patterns. This allows the Auxilia to rapidly transverse through a variety of terrains and navigate through or around obstacles. As it can always then have three legs on the ground, this makes the Auxilia a very stable platform for its modules, which is a priority given some mission payloads.
Weapons: The stock Auxilia does not come equipped with any offensive hardware of their own. However, the rudimentary 'driver' brain of the droid can instinctively use its limbs as impromptu weapons. In desperate cases, it may attempt to trample or impale opponents if cornered. Some Auxilias are equipped with modules that do carry weapons as discussed below.
Defenses: Auxilias are intended to be cheap and mass produced droids, so their chassis are only lightly armored in duraplast, as they are mainly expected to serve behind other combat units. This provides them with adequate protection against occasional incidental hits, though it will not stand up for long against repeated hits from even light personal weapons. The droids also do have a small ionization buffer, primarily to protect them from natural ionic phenomena and area of effect EMP attacks. It provides little if any protection against repeated direct fire from ion or EMP weapons.
Auxilia Modules: Each Auxilia's primary purpose is to carry a specialty module into combat. This module is mounted on top of the droid's main body, and usually reaches a height up to the average human's chest. Depending on the module, an Auxilia may function as a direct combat unit if equipped with weapons or act in a supporting role such as first aid or field engineering. The sheer variety of modules meant that a single droid brain within the droid's body would not be able to have all of the knowledge to effectively use it (at least at a relatively cheap cost) so each module also includes a droid brain designed to specifically use that module. Each module can be installed and/or removed from the unit in about fifteen minutes with basic tools. While Lucerne Labs is continuing to develop modules for the Auxilia, these are the modules currently available for the droid:
Blaster Cannon: This module contains a pair of Flamestorm Assault Blaster Cannons in a turret mount along with extended ammunition. Because the Auxilia is lightly armored, this typically acts as automated sentry turret that is placed in an established fighting position to better protect it. It also sees frequent use as a point-defense weapon against incoming munitions and other light aerial threats.
Grenade Launcher: This module consists of turreted MM-s3 grenade launcher along with a motorized grenade pack carrying one hundred grenades. While it can be used as to directly attack line of sight targets, this module is more often used as light indirect artillery, using its launcher to lob grenades over vertical obstacles like a mortar.
Rocket Launcher: This module consists of sixty single shot wrist-rocket tubes mounted on a turret. This provides the Auxilia to provide a brief storm of specialized munitions, ranging from basic explosives for use against personnel and light vehicles to more esoteric ion and chemical payloads. Auxilias in this role typically use hit-and-fade targets, quickly discharging their payload at the front before scurrying to the back for safety and reloads.
Sapper: This module houses a turreted J-7b Beamdrill along with enough supplies to allow for up to eight hours of continuous use. This module is typically used to create earthen fighting positions or tunnels for conventional troops. It also sees use in carving through enemy defenses such as walls, armor plating, or blast doors.
Mobile Shield Generator: This Auxilia possesses a deflector shield generator, allowing to provide both ray and particle shielding for an area of around fifteen square meters. This typically allows the droid to protect a squad or two of soldiers for several minutes before the shields need to recharge. It's typically powerful enough to withstand sustained small arms fire, though it only provides brief periods of protection from heavy explosive weapons such as missiles or vehicle-mounted cannons.
Automated Repair: This module is essentially a miniaturized automated repair droid along with basic tools and materials that allows it to provide repairs to droids, vehicles, and equipment. Such fixes are almost always temporary patches that will fail under prolonged use or distress, but are a great temporary stopgap solution in trying times. These units also can provide routine maintenance and calibration to the same items.
Sensor Pack: This module consists of a Full-Spectrum Transceiver (FST) and an EnhanceScan General Purpose Scanner that effectively turns the Auxilia into a probot. The FST allows the Auxilia to detect many vehicles and incoming droids within several kilometers of the droid, providing its companions about warning about those threats as well as with targeting feed. Whereas the FST's use is more tactical minded, the general purpose scanner is focused more on providing useful information about the environment around the droid. Its lifeform scanner also makes it an effective sentry and ambush spotter.
Sensor Jammer: This module consists of a 4x-Phantom Sensor Jammer along with its operating droid brain. This allows the droid to better conceal the presences of its companions from a distant sensor scans, and also aids in making the use of automated targeting locks much more difficult. It does not visually hide either it or any of its nearby companions.
