Moira Skaldi
Paperclip Maximiser
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a new battle droid for Archangel to sell and utilise in the field.
- Image Source: Here. Battle Droid character design by Alex Drummond on www.alexdrummo.com
- Canon Link: N/A
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: ARGH MACAU-ID: This sub served as an inspiration. Legionnaire Class Combat Droid, manufactured by Archangel. This droid unit is supposed to be an update. Juggernaut war droid. Anti-hacking countermeasures adapted from the Helot-class hauler and the Studious-class construction droids, both manufactured and designed by Archangel.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
- Manufacturer: Archangel Research and Design
- Model: Legionnaire Class Combat Droid Mk2.
- Production: Minor Production
- Affiliation: Archangel Research and Design, Closed-Market.
- Modularity: Limited.
- Material: Duranium skeleton, Durasteel plating, Asbestos insulation layer, inner copper Faraday cage, retractable Duranium claws, standard droid components.
- Classification: Fourth degree (war droid).
- Weight: 160 kg
- Height: 2.1 m
- Movement: Bipedal
- Armaments: Built-in mini shatter beamer carried in right wrist, wide beam sonic stunner carried in left wrist, enhanced strength and speed, retractable Duranium claws. Able to utilise external armaments such as blaster rifles, grenades and vibroblades.
- Misc. Equipment:
- Standard droid brain and programming
- Vocabulator
- Built-in communications systems
- Tactical HUD with tracking and targeting systems, heat/low-light/infrared vision
- Sound dampeners
- Magnetic sole anchors
- Internal coolant systems
- Redundant droid brain and programming systems
- Copper Faraday cage
- Ionization Buffer
- Electrical Capacitane Shield
- Motorised Power Leg Joints
- Personal deflector shield
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Wireless communications systems
- Copper Faraday Cage
- Electrical Capacitane Shield
- Ionization Buffer
- In-built armaments
- Personal deflector shield (can resist about three standard blaster shots max before failing)
- Sound dampeners
- Magnetic sole anchors
- Retractable claws
- Vacuum sealed
- Able to climb up walls like a spider
- Redundant systems
- Able to jump
- Kill switch command
- The Legionnaire Mk2 is meant to be built and deployed in large numbers. Archangel only employes droids and since these mechanical labourers lack free will, they don't need to be paid. This helps keep costs down, along with the rather limited independence of the Legionnaire. Should one fall, more will take its place. Like all battle droids they feel neither fear nor pain and will obey any command from their superiors. Thus Archangel has no qualms about sustaining high casualties by deploying them en masse to overwhelmn or distract an opponent on the battlefield.
- The the war droid is quite tough and durable. The Duranium skeleton and Durasteel armour plating give it an armour rating that equates to high quality medium armour. In addition, it possesses a basic personal deflector shield, though this can only sustain three standard blaster shots before shorting out. Heavy blaster fire, strong explosions and such will obviously produce this effect sooner. Moreover, the Legionnaire can be equipped with additional armour suits in the same way as an organic soldier would. A copper Faraday cage and insulation protect vital internal systems, while other devices grant the droid body a certain degree of protection against ion and electrical attacks.
- The Legionnaire is a solid combat model. In addition to possessing a in-built ranged weapons for close distances, its hands can sprout claws. While these are only of limited use against opponents wearing heavier personal armour, they are still vicious. The droid can climb up walls like a spider would. Modern tracking and scanning systems give the Legionnaire a decent accuracy with ranged weapons, while it can use its droid strength to its advantage in melee combat. Moreover, its legs are constructed in such manner to allow the droid to leap three metres into the air, which can be useful when attempting to launch a surprise attack or pursue fleeing enemies.
Weaknesses:
- While the Legionnaire's armour is tough, it is vulnerable to lightsabres. At best, it would withstand a glancing blow, but that's it. The glowsticks will still cut through it like a hot knife through butter. Likewise, while the armour can take a punch, the droid unit can be broken or severely damaged by heavy blaster fire, high calibre projectiles, tank cannons and so on.
- It is well protected against environmental hazards, but extreme heat and cold can still cause damage. For instance, a thermic lance or a blast equal to it will pierce the armour and be damaging for the skeleton. While the droid is quite resistant to fire, a canny pyromancer could, for example, damage it by manipulating hydraulic oil.
- The Legionnaire only possesses limited independence and ability to think for itself. It's designed to be a combat drone, not an autonomous unit. It follows its programming and carries out instructions well, but little beyond it. This can make the unit fairly predictable in combat. This is less of an issue when one faces the Hoplite in large numbers, but makes individual units easier to outmanoeuvre or outsmart. Archangel leaves more complex thinking patterns to HRDs and Tactical Droids, who can be considered to be the officer class, whereas the Legionnaire is a small picture thinker. As a grunt, it does what it's told do, be it sentry duty, base defence or assaults on enemy strongholds, but does not innovate.
- Like all machines, the battle droid is vulnerable to mechu-deru and applications of Force magnetism. Both are esoteric abilities the machines are unable to really counter effectively.
- The Faraday cage and insulation only protects vital internal systems, leaving the bot's motor systems a lot more vulnerable to ion and electrical attacks. The droid has an ionization buffer and an Electrical Capacitane Shield to protect itself, but these devices can still be overwhelmned. Even if an attack does not outright destroy the droid, it could still paralyse or weaken it, giving an opponent time to launch a more lethal blow.
- The droid is heavier than the typical organic being. While it can use its large, sturdy frame to its advantage in combat, it also means that it finds certain terrain difficult or near impossible to traverse. Muddy terrain is very awkward, it will sink in swamps and the unit is incapable of swimming.
DESCRIPTION
The Legionnaire Class Combat Droid served Archangel well for many years. However, science and technology march on and so over time it became clear that a replacement was required. After all, there were plenty of organics to purge. And plenty of battlefields that would benefit from the introduction of a more modern war droid. This was demonstrated in a series of skirmishes during the machine's cult 'Cold War' with Firemane Industries, along with a raid on an Eldorai settlement on Kaeshana prior to the FO-GA war. So Archangel's designers returned back to the drawing board and and came up with a new combat droid model. Ironically, one inspiration was a droid model fielded by one of Archangel's rivals, the Abregado-Rae Guild of Hammers. Another was the ancient Juggernaut war droid. While Archangel's model lacks a jetpack function, variants of the Juggernaut's weapons systems were adapted, though these were slightly scaled down to fit into a wrist.
Thus the Legionnaire Mk2 was born. It is designed to be a standard combat droid, with some toys to enhance its combat effectiveness and ability to survive under fire. At least long enough to achieve its objective. Archangel, being run by two megalomaniacal, genocidal HRDs, is not particularly concerned about casualties, even amongst droids. The Legionnaire has thick armour and a personal deflector shield, allowing it to withstand multiple blaster shots before it is destroyed.
In addition, its leg units are designed to allow it to jump up to three metres. Magnetic anchors and density projectors make the droid slightly more difficult to toss around, though a powerful telekinetic shockwave will still have an effect. A Faraday cage protects vital internal systems against electrical attacks. In addition, the droid possesses an Ionization Buffer and an Electrical Capacitane Shield. However, at most the unit's countermeasures can withstand one EMP grenade, before a subsequent electromagnetic detonation shuts it down. Redundant systems would allow a reboot in theory, but leave the droid vulnerable in the interim. Alas, it is still vulnerable to lightsabres and can only resist glancing blows before a laser sword cuts it in half.
Wireless communication through in-built communications systems enables multiple Hoplites to exchange information over short distances and coordinate their attacks in battle, acting like a well-oiled machine. This is also a good way for more sophisticated models, such as Tactical Droids and HRDs, to command the drone units because the latter's intelligence is fairly limited. Bottom line, in battle the Legionnaire will tend to choose the most direct way to eliminate an opponent. Thus it lacks subtlety and favours a brute force approach. The war droid's lack of fear is an obvious advantage in combat, but it can easily become detrimental.
In terms of movement, the machine possesses a certain degree of versatility since, while its propulsion is bipedal like the typical battle droid, it can climb up walls like a spider, in addition to being able to jump. Redundant systems, namely redundant processing, power and memory systems are inside the droid's chest and head. So the droid can remain active and, ideally, be repaired, when either is taken out of commission. Complete destruction requires taking out both. Magnetise anchors can be utilised to stabilise the unit to a metal surface to make it a bit more difficult for it to be tossed around or help in climbing.
In battle, the war droid has a good aim with ranged weapons and its enhanced strength makes it potent in melee combat. Archangel usually equips a Legionnaire with a standard blaster rifle or a bolter. Use of melee weapons such as vibroblades is also possible. It can utilise standard mounted e-webs, missile launchers and the portable variant of rotary blaster cannons. Due to their complexity, it obviously does not have the ability to utilise lightsabres. As final backup weapons, it possesses a wrist-worn shatter beam, a wrist sonic weapon and retractable Duranium claws meant to rip opponents apart. The shatter beam can produce a steady stream of energy, producing considerable kinetic force, while the sonic weapon produces focused waves of sound and can be adjusted to a lethal setting capable of breaking bones.
The droid is controlled by a master access code which designates who is the owner and who can therefore give orders to it. Whoever has said access code can designate any number of other people as subordinates. This master access code is protected by advanced 512 bit encryption which would take several centuries for a regular cipher machine to break. However, if the code was stolen or mislaid obviously the droid could be misused. The key is that just like a real key the code is only as safe as the operator who uses it.'
