HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create standardized droid body to use by Metal Lord droid volunteer soldiers
- Image Source: DeviantArt, Blue Rain by DeadlyNinja, link here
- Canon Link: BX Commando Droid
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Metal Lords
- Model: Standardized Combat Droid Vessel
- Production: Minor
- Affiliation: The Metal Lords
- Modularity: Able to be customized by individual soldiers using these bodies, whether aesthetically or through addition or modification of their modules.
- Material: Duranium Skeleton, Durasteel Body Plates and Components, Electrum Internal Components, Asbestos Insulation Layer, Inner Copper Farraday Cage, Internal Duranium Protection Capsules.
- Classification: Class 4 (War Droids)
- Weight: ~120 kilograms
- Height: 1.80 meters
- Movement: Bipedal
- Armaments: Augmented strength and speed due to built-in rotors, built-in one blaster repeater side-arm and one wrist vibroblade
- Misc. Equipment: Military grade Omega Pyre heat sensors and scanners based on latest Infantry Drone systems (100 meters of range)
HUD with tracking and targeting systems based on latest Infantry Drone systems (100 meters of range)
Sound dampening attachment
Build-In Communication Systems and Voice-Assimilation Module
Density projector.
Magnetic sole anchors
Internal coolant systems.
Redundant droid brain and programming systems.
Self-destruction systems.
Tracking unit.
Copper Farraday Cage
- Armor Plates and Skeleton- like all other droids these machines are clad in a protective layer of outer armor plates that form their "skin", these are however much thinner and lighter than the thick plates used in the Infantry Drone models of ARGH and Metal Lords, instead they can be comparable to the durability of BX-Commando droid bodies.
- Combat sensors and scanners- based on designs found in previous Infantry Drone models, these combat sensors and scanners allow the droids to target and accurately engage multiple targets, now with upgraded range of 100 meters, however this covers only their hip fire and snap shot range and accuracy, firing without need to augment aiming by use of scopes of other assistance mechanisms in weapons, so this range could potentially be extended based on what kind of weapon they are using.
- Sound dampeners- stealth systems that stabilize air around the droid to hush its footsteps and movements by limiting the air vibrations it causes, at least to a degree as it cannot completely drone out the sound of a loud weapon firing. It also grants a degree of resistance against sonic weaponry once active as the air in the droid's immediate vicinity resists sound traveling through it.
- Communication systems- equipped short and long range wireless communication systems the droids can send text, voice, and holo messages to each other and their command, actively coordinating during battle without having to actually speak to each other verbally.
- Density Projectors and magnetic anchors- systems to increase the weight of the droids exponentially and/or anchor themselves to metal surfaces for stabilization or climbing purposes, mostly used as defense against telekinetic manipulation or shock-waves, can be potentially used to crush somebody.
- Redundant systems- redundant processing, power, and memory systems location in the chest and the head of the droids, meaning the machine can remain active, and be potentially repaired, when its head or chest is destroyed or incapacitated, to fully deactivate the machine both its head and chest need to be destroyed.
- Internal coolants- internal cooling systems that minimize damage from overheating, whether caused by malfunction or technical issues, environmental damage for example heat from a lava planet's surface, or enemy fire based attacks like flamethrowers.
- Self-destruct, tracking- the tracking beacon built into the droid can be used to send out distress signals to summon a rescue party or reinforcements should the machine be captured or stranded, the self-destruct mechanism is meant to be used to prevent its capture however. Self-destruction overloads its power units, quickly turning them critical and causing an energy-based explosion, this explosion melts and disintegrates most of the droid's components, leaving behind only scorched metal husk of its skeleton and outer armor plates as well as damaging beings around it similar to a standard thermal detonator exploding.
- Build-in Weaponry- the machines received wrist built-in standard grade blaster repeater in right forearm and a vibro-blade in the left as side-arms, the repeater taps into the machine's energy core for power and plasma magazine can be reloaded by first ejecting the used container and then placing in the new one into a special slot on its right arm.
- Augmented Strength- Due to the rotors and artificial muscles that make up the droid's body it is much stronger than an average human being, able to use this strength to benefit it in close combat.
- Vacuum Sealed- The vital systems of the droid, its droid brain, memory core, processing center, et cetera, have been vacuum sealed within its inner structure, as a result the machine does not receive damage from liquids seeping inside and affecting these systems, for example submerging into water, rain, or napalm.
- Farraday Cage- a copper based defense against electrical and ionic attacks, however due to being built into walls of inner droid structure it only covers vital inner systems like memory core, power units, processing center, et cetera, the muscles and rotors of the droid can still be affected should other protections against such attacks fail.
- Voice Assimilation Module- based on the systems used within BX-Commando Droids, these machines are able to analyze and assimilate voices of other creatures just by recording small samples of speech, copying its sound perfectly although whether they speak in the same mannerism depends on the intelligence of the droid attempting to do so.
- Commando- the designs of these droids have strayed from the focus on brute combat and mass onslaught as it was with Infantry Drones, instead they are meant to work better as individuals and have the ability to perform special missions as squads whether on frontlines or behind enemy lines. As such, these droids have their bodies outfitted with numerous special protective systems and gadgets, such as being vacuum sealed to prevent liquids from seeping inside, cooling systems to fight off atmospheric heat and fire-based weaponry, sound dampeners to move quietly and gain minor protection against sonic-based attacks, density projectors, magnetized feet, voice assimilation module to mimic the speech of other beings, and bodies specially made to be less bulky and size of about average human in order to fit into most foreign armor suits for disguise purposes. They were also equipped with latest in scanner and tracker technology from Metal Lords in order to improve their hip-fire or shooting without need of a scope, as well as standard redundant systems to so survive decapitation or being cut in half, and farraday copper cage to protect their vital systems from ionic attacks.
- Speed- the less armored, smaller bodies when compared to previous Infantry Drone Models mean that these droids are much lighter, and therefore much faster than their predecessors, easily able to outrun an average human and perform great feats of grace and dexterity in a fight while being small and slender enough to fit into most standardized suits of armor fit for humanoids. While they are not as strong as Infantry Drones, being machines and using rotors as muscles these droids are still stronger than average human, although races like Wookiees or Herglics known for their brute strength could most likely overpower them.
- Team-Based- While the drones assault their targets in large phalanxes, the droids of Metal Lords are meant to be deployed in special squads and work together as a small but efficient team in order to fulfill their mission. As such, these droids often train and run simulations together in order to improve their cohesion, not to mention they are also much more intelligent than drones, able to follow complex plans and come up with solutions to obstacles and issues during battle. This is due to the fact that many of these droids are using programmings of droid that volunteered to take part in the battle and copied their mind into these bodies, so snipers in a squad of these droids would usually have been assassin droids in the past, the engineers astromechs, and officers or gunners war droids.
- Replacement- one of the key elements of these droids is that the volunteer machines who wish to fight for Metal Lords but do not want to put their life on the line or their bodies are not suitable for combat can upload a copy of their programming into these vessels and go to fight while the original stays behind. As such, these droids can be more daring than normal soldiers, knowing that even if they'll die their original would just place another copy of their programming into another body hearing of their demise, it also means that the number of them in Metal Lord army is usually fairly constant.
- Weaker Natural Armor- because their armor plates had to be slimmed down to decrease their weight and bulkiness so these droids could fit into suits of armor in order to disguise themselves or utilize its benefits, it means their bodies are not as well protected as those of Infantry Drones. The droids can take much less punishment without additional armor than the drones, only few shots, comparable to the durability of their BX-Commando Droid predecessors.
- Suit-Reliant- due to their reliance on combat suits these droids are lacking when it comes to special functions when compared to other modern commando or special forces droids, for example although they possess variety of minor gadgets to help them with commando missions or during battle, they do not possess build-in Abregado Combat Shield as the drones or many other designs by ARGH and Metal Lords do, weakening their defenses further and making them more vulnerable to ionic and electrical attacks.
- Volunteers- While these droids can be replaced to keep the same number of them active, the same droid mind is not used to control more than one of these droids at the same time, making their numbers much more limited when compared to the legions of Infantry Drones, as such they are often deployed in squads of 6-12 and for special missions, usually accompanying several phalanxes of drones in order to support the less intelligent machine soldiers.
Introduction: While the first step in modernizing and standardizing Metal Lord armed forces was to create a standardized suit of armor and equipment for those Lords who did not had reliable suits or weapons for their soldiers, the second step was to create a design for standardized droid vessels to provide to those Metal Lords who may have had armor and weapons to outfit their forces, but not access to droid foundries in order to forge their armies. Following the Abregado/Denon doctrine of droid armies, the droids were designed to perform as commando units and based on commando-droid designs used in the past, meant to be deployed in smaller squads of droid volunteers to perform along much larger but less intelligent drone forces.
Description: Standing at diminutive 1.80 meters, when compared to other drone and droid designs produced by Metal Lords and ARGH, the Standardized Droids are much more sleek and less bulky than their predecessors, resembling humanoid physique closely in their girth and proportions with almost featureless faces that featured a smooth silvery faceplate that roughly resembled human face in shape and size, and from two to multiple photoreceptors glowing in pale blue or cyan light. It's rare to see these droids without their armors, as the main reason for their sleek, shorter design, and lighter frame, is to give them ability to fit into most standardized combat armors out there, whether it is to make being armed by various Metal Lords easier, to make creating future standardized equipment for them easier, or to give them ability to put on armor from other factions in order to disguise themselves and infiltrate enemy ranks. While the intelligence of these droids and the role they perform often differs based on their position within their unit, due to their volunteer nature utilizing programming from droids of different background, they are almost always much smarter than their drone counterparts. Much like commando teams from other powers the various droids within a squad are often specialized, with snipers using programming from assassin droid volunteers, engineers and slicers using astromech programming, and gunners or officers using war droid programming.
Special Features: these droids are equipped with a variety of more or less standard special features found within droid and drone designs for ARGH and Metal Lords. These include advanced combat sensors and scanners, upgraded to improve their hip fire accuracy and aiming weapons without the use of scopes, sound dampeners in order to quiet their movements during stealth missions and by extension include minor resistance to sonic weaponry by keeping the air around them still, build-in communication systems in order to send transmissions, data, and massages between each other and coordinate without actually speaking verbally, density projectors and magnetic soles to anchor themselves during crisis or climb up vertical surfaces using the magnets as well as perform in zero-gravity setting better, redundant processing and power systems to allow the droids to survive beheading or being cut in half horizontally, internal coolant systems in order to protect them from overheating due to harsh environment or flame-based weaponry, tracking and self-destruct system to send out distress signals or avoid being captured, build-in vibroblade and repeater to use as side-arms, augmented strength and speed, their brute strength is not as potent as that of Infantry Drones, however they are still stronger than an average human, their bodies are vacuum sealed in order to prevent liquids from seeping inside and damaging their vital systems, a Farraday internal cage to protect their vital systems from ionic and electrical strikes, and a voice assimilation module in order to record and reproduce voice almost perfectly based on very small samples.
Strengths: The main strength of these designs comes from their increased intelligence and speed when compared to the previous Infantry Drone designs as well as increased adaptability, with ability to fit into various suits of armor and benefit from their properties and gadgets to further augment themselves, as well as ability to work together and draw on the specialized strength of each droid within the squad, due to different programming backgrounds, to perform as a cohesive and trained team. These droids also possess various systems that are meant to help them perform better on battlefields and conduct their duties as commando squads, including ability to mimic voices, sound dampeners, and internal coolant systems.
Weaknesses: The drawbacks of these designs are decreased strength and innate armor of their bodies, which had to be shorter and sleeker in order to fit standardized armor suits, decreasing their durability, and although they are still stronger than average human, more brutish races like Wookiees or Herglics would be able to overpower them. Another drawback is that because these droids are dependent on additional systems from suits of armor to further augment them, they lack special systems like built-in jet systems or deflector units, for example the Abregado Combat Shields that are common in variety of other Metal Lord and ARGH designs. Another issue is that because the number of these droids are based on number of volunteers willing to submit their programming in order to control the body, their deployment is usually fairly limited as few Metal Lords place more than one copy of the same programming into these units to respect the service provided by the volunteer soldiers, as such they are deployed in squads of 6 to 12 rather than large phalanxes of 60 units the Infantry Drones are sent out in.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the Standardized Droid Combat Vessels designed by the Metal Lords are a sleeker, more intelligent counterpart to the brutish armored Infantry Drones that make up the bulk of Metal Lord infantry. Instead, these units are meant to perform as commando units, made up entirely of droid volunteers with ability to wear additional standardized suits of armor and take advantage of their benefits, as well as have the ability to put on armor from other nations either to be more adaptable or to disguise themselves and infiltrate enemy ranks. In turn, however, they are not as strong nor as heavily armored, when caught without an additional suit of armor, as Infantry Drones, and deployed in much smaller numbers.
