Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To provide the Directorate and Silver Jedi with an espionage droid
Image Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/487796203381789450/?lp=true, modified by yours truly
Canon Link: N/A
Primary Source: N/A
Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi, Closed-Market
Model: Mirage Espionage Droid
Production: Minor
Modularity: Knowledge cartridges, carried equipment
Material: Plasteel plating, Psykhe Droid Brain, droid components
Classification: (First Degree, Second Degree, Third Degree, Fourth Degree, or Fifth Degree)
Weight: 90 kg
Height: 175 cm
Movement: Bipedal
Armaments: None
Misc. Equipment:
CQ-3.80 Multispectrum Disguise Suite
Sonic Scanner
EM Analyzer
Droid Search Scope Type 1
Tightbeam Comms Transmitter
Psykhe Droid Brain
SPECIAL FEATURES
Appears to be a typical labor/industrial droid, can mount additional cosmetic features to enhance this discussion
Can temporarily disguise itself as a human, droid, or other object through its CQ-3.80 Multispectrum Disguise Suite
0.5 meter cubed Sensor shielded compartment: Each Mirage has a small, hidden chest cavity that incorporates sensor shielding technology, allowing them to smuggle in small mission-oriented objects such as small explosive charges, pistols, and computer spikes.
Sonic Scanner
EM Analyzer
Droid Search Scope Type 1
Tightbeam Comms Transmitter
Psykhe Droid Brain
Appearances are Deceptive: Mirage Espionage Droids are designed to appear as generically typical Class 5 basic maintenance droids, taking a small number of aesthetic features from a variety of those lines to better pass inspection by casual onlookers. Modular mounting brackets on the droid's face and chassis allow it to wear parts of different body shells to better blend in with certain droid model types or match other aesthetics. Many of the droids will carry around toolboxes or other industrial equipment to better fit in with that perception. For more complicated matters, each Mirage is fitted with a CQ-3.80 Multi-Spectrum Disguise Suite, allowing it to convincingly take the visage of other similar droids or humanoids for several minutes at a time.
Modular Secondary Programming: The Psykhe Droid Brain allows the Mirage to swap out mission specific programming, allowing it to better adapt to specific locations or cover identity. For example, a Mirage that has the cover identity of a building maintenance droid might have two of its knowledge canisters filled with information on those tasks, allowing it to actually perform those tasks while under close observation. Alternatively, one knowledge canister might hold the local customs and/or language of a society, allowing it to blend in an area like a longtime resident, even if it only has been on the site relatively recently. These canisters can also better enable special mission programming, such as placing explosive charges, hand to hand combat, or installing spyware into computer systems.
Weakpoints: While the Mirage has a relatively sturdy chassis as befitting an ostensibly industrial droid, many of its subcomponents are rather exposed, and it does not much effort to tear power cords, disable exposed servos, and other like components.
Casual Infiltrator: Mirages are typically only effective as casual and short-term infiltrators. Their chassis doesn't conform to any known model, which makes them stand out in established inventories of organizations, and their holographic disguise suite can only be used for limited amounts of time.
As the Drectorate found itself engaging in warfare with the Syndicate, it quickly became apparent that t hey would be facing an enemy that preferred to hide in plain sight and strike from the shadows. To face such an unconventional foe, the Directorate began a multi-pronged approach to ferreting out this foe. Some of this approach included recruiting friendly slicers and infochants, but it quickly became even more apparent that they would need a physical way of gathering intelligence. To supplement their limited amount of intelligence operatives and freelancers, Lucerne Labs developed the Mirage Espionage Droid. The droid borrows much of its concept from earlier Imperial spy droid models, but it focuses on blending more into the background of a variety of locations with a single model rather than a multitude of specialized, custom models. To compensate for this, the Mirage incorporates some sophisticated electronic equipment that allow it to briefly take on the other forms of other creatures and droids when it does not appear to be an ordinary labor or industrial droid. This shapeshifting form was then married to an adaptable Psykhe-class Droid Brain and an internal smuggling compartment, allowing the droids to be better modified for certain environments and missions. The Directorate and their Silver Jedi allies have since employed the droid for a variety of covert operations.
Technical Explanations
Personality: Mirages have a complex personality matrix designed to better allow it to navigate through more nuanced social interactions in order to better improve their ability to infiltrate, even if it is not immediately apparent on meeting the droid. Most casual interactors would describe the droid's personality as subservient and hardworking, the sort of traits that are both admired and tend to lend the droid fitting into harmless background noise in most environments. Closer interaction with the droid tends to suggest that they've not had their memories wiped in a long time, as they tend to offer observations and casual conversation with an ease, patience, and interest more befitting an old friend, much like a protocol droid or aide. Again, this is to convince those interacting with them that they are not a threat. However, when repeatedly confronted or attacked, Mirages have a tendency to overreact, becoming exceptionally aggressive in physically pursuing and attempting to harm their detractors, even if this isn't in the best interests of the droid or its mission.
Skillset: Mirages are designed to infiltrate and observe, which drives all of their programmed skillsets. Much of this intelligence gathering programming can be divided into two sets: technical and environment. Technical programming involves effectively using the droid's onboard sensors and analyzing it come up with probable hypothesis of what it is around it. This base programming also includes a very limited slicing ability on par with a novice script kiddy. While this may enable it to slice through common commercial and residential-grade security, it is almost useless against the more sophisticated cyber defenses used by most militaries or large corporations. Environment programming is more nebulous in definition and affects much of the droid's behavioral programming. This programming is primarily focused on blending into environments in a socially acceptable manner, such as acting and even functioning as low grade labor and/or maintenance droids. It also involves a cold-reading subroutine, allowing the droid to piece together possible bits of information and clues to make a possible hypothesis. Otherwise, Mirages have other bits and pieces of common droid programming, which again, are designed to better allow it to blend in to its environment. By using a Psykhe Droid Brain, the Mirage can accept different knowledge cannisters, which can give it different auxiliary skills to better enable it for secondary missions, such as demolitions for sabotage or slicing software for hacking scenarios.
Chassis: The Mirage uses a fairly typical, bipedal labor droid chassis that is built more for strength and brute agility rather than finesse. It's a relatively skeletal unit, especially in the appendage's design, which highlights its bulky but powerful servo-motors. An appearance that easily suggests a role of simple labor or maintenance droid to casual observers. Unsurprisingly, it is somewhat stronger physically than most organics. Despite its apparent industrial appearance, the innards of the Mirage are more sophisticated. The head contains an adaptable Psykhe-series Droid Brain, which provides the droid with good processing power and flexible programming which is not immediately apparent to onlookers. Like many other droids, the head also contains its photo-receptors, vocabulator,and other electronic equipment, notably a sonic scanner, microwave sensor, and tightbeam transmitter. The droid's torso contains a small portable fusion generator for power as well as a small concealed compartment which is obscured in sensor baffling. The droid's arms and legs are fairly typical for labor droid, focusing somewhat more on hydraulic strength rather than fine manipulation.
Locomotion: The Mirage moves around on pair of legs, giving it the mobility typical of most humanoids. The Servo-motors on these legs are fairly strong, as befitting its frequent cover role as an industrial droid. Consequently, Mirages can often run slightly faster than humans and bear more weight in the process as they do so.
Weapons: Mirages do not have any built-in weaponry of their own as standard, though with the right preparation, they can be decent if limited combatants. Their hard armor plating and good hydraulic length sometimes leads to the droids being equipped with knowledge cartridges for hand to hand martial arts. This can allow the droids to surreptiously act as combatants against unprepared or civilian targets. The Psykhe droid brain allows the droids to be programmed to use with other weapons, whether blaster pistols or shaped charges. In some instances, the weapons can be smuggled within its concealed chest compartment. Enterprising users can consequently adapt it to carry out any number of limited covert attacks, such as abductions with a stun blaster or sabotage with explosive charges. However, the Mirage's combat utility is largely reliant on surprise, and the droids are often easily defeated in direct and prolonged combat by most regular, mechanical and organic combatants.
Defenses: Mirages are not designed for direct combat, and they do not possess battle-droid grade armor plating, high-tech shielding, or excellent agility. However, as part of their cover as industrial or labor droids, they do possess reasonably thick plasteel plating that provides good protection from common environment hazards, such as high and low operating temperatures and the rough and tumble life of a foundry or factory droid. In combat, this makes them somewhat better protected than the average human civilian.
Miscellaneous Equipment: As an intelligence gatherer, most of the Mirage's secondary equipment is focused on blending into the environment or gathering intelligence. The key component of these systems is a CQ-3.80 Multispectrum Disguise Suite, which allows the droid to briefly take on the forms of other similarly sized objects such as people, droids, creatures, and other objects. This suite is powered by a capacitor, which can run the suite full-time for several minutes before it needs almost an hour to recharge. This means the droid must be sparingly use the suite for the most important moments. The other disguise feature on the Mirage that merits mention is a small sensor-shielded compartment, which allows the Mirage to smuggle in small objects, such as slicing datapads, explosives, weapons, and other like mission-specific objects. For intelligence gathering purposes, the Mirage not only has basic droid sensors, but also sports some fairly sophisticated sensors including a sonic scanner and an EM Analyzer. Information gathered by the Mirage can then be transmitted through a tight-beam transmitter, giving the droid a secure and hard to intercept method of communicating with its controllers.
