Approved Tech Myrmidon series Synthetic Soldier

[Gir Quee]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To provide a synthetic soldier in Lucerne Labs product line-up that veers into being almost a biot
• Image Source:here
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
• Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi, Closed-Market
• Model: Myrmidon series Synthetic Soldier
• Modularity: Basic Appearance, knowledge cartridge, accoutrements (typical soldier gear and weapons)
• Production: Mass-Produced.
• Material: Soma series Body Chassis, Psykhe series Droid Brain, Synthflesh, Torulus series Artificial Muscles, stimuli receptors, sensory impulse lines, artificial lungs, Q-2 artificial heart, Response iMprOVEMENT Package, bio-stabilizer implant, biochem synthesizer, subdermal quantum fiber armor layer, various droid components

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

• Classification: Fourth Degree
• Weight: Average
• Height: Average
• Movement: Bipedal
• Armaments: None
• Misc. Equipment:
  • Psykhe series Droid Brain
  • Soma series Body Chassis
  • subdermal quantum fiber armor layer
  • Hi-sense Enhanced Eyes
  • sensory impulse lines
  • Response iMprOVEMENT Package
  • bio-stabilizer implant
  • biochem synthesizer
• Resistances (Optional):
  • Energy (And other Blaster type weapons): Low
  • Kinetic: Average
  • Lightsabers: Low
  • Ion/EMP: Very High

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Human Replicas: Myrmidon Synthetic Soldiers are designed to appear as typical humans at a casual inspection. A key element of this is the use of a Soma series Droid Chassis, which is then covered in artificial Torulus muscles to as servo-motors and then covered in synthflesh, much like their direct predecessor, the synthdroid. Aside from making Myrmidons easier to interact with organics (especially for civilians), it also enables them to utilize existing weapons, armor, and other equipment originally designed for organic use. Unlike previous synthetic soldiers, Myrmidons do actually eat and primarily rely on chemical power to run, which further suggests that they are organic to observers.
• Variable Appearance: Myrmidon series Synthetic Soldiers use basic synthdroid construction, meaning that it takes only little effort to sculpt or dye the synthflesh to make it look like a variety of humans. Myrmidon Synthetic Soldiers typically possess randomized appearance traits to make them look like more organic units on the battlefield, those purchasers can specify certain physical appearances if desired. However, their actual appearance as organics is not perfect, falling somewhat between the low-end Synthdroids and high-end HRDs. Most people can tell their true nature just from looks after spending around ten minutes with them, though frequently the droid's simple personality gives them away long before that. This makes them poor social infiltrators.
• Variable Personality: While only capable of having simple personalities because of the robust nature of their droid brain, Myrmidons can be programmed with a variety of personalities that can be summed up in one word such as “dutiful”, “wary”, “aggressive”, etc. This means that while they're not particularly intelligent or creative fighters, they are not universally predictable either.
• Subdermal Armor: While a Myrmidon appears to be a normal human on the outside, they actually have two layers of quantum fiber right underneath their synthflesh. This is fairly minor protection that does not provide significant protection against most direct fire weapons, but it is useful for absorbing shrapnel, richocets, and low-tech melee weapons like daggers or clubs. This provides them with a minor edge in durability compared to the average human body.
• Hi-sense Enhanced Eyes: Synthetic soldiers use off the shelf Hi-sense Enhanced Eyes originally intended for cyborgs as photo-receptors. These provide the Myrmidon with slightly better than average baseline vision than a typical human, along with a limited ability to see in the ultraviolet and infrared spectrums.
• Self-sufficient power sources: Myrmidons have almost microscopic photovoltiac cells embedded in the dermis of their “skin”. Consequently, exposure to light allows the droid to regain power. This rate of production is small enough to the point where it typically doesn't have an immediate effect on combat, but rather serves as a useful back-up system to jump-start the droid's chemical-based energy systems and other basic operating systems such as its artificial muscles to survive long-term in austere environments without normal technical support.
• Chemical Synthesizers: Myrmidons are designed to more readily emulate normal biological functions by taking in and processing substances to produce energy and chemical byproducts. To accomplish this, Myrmidons “eat” food or other relatively soft materials or liquids that can easily travel down its artificial digestive system. In its 'stomach', enzymes produced by its own internal biogenerator quickly break down materials into their base elements. This raw material then is shunted to where a normal human's intestines would be. But instead, the Myrmidon's intestines absorb and combine/remove materials using a complex chemical pathways controlled by the units brain to either produce chemical fuel to use a latter time or make different chemical substances for other uses. A data-cylinder hard-wired into the droid's brain provides it with a vast repository of chemical formulas to produce different materials as needed. Originally, this was intended to allow the droid produce extra synth skin, artificial muscles, and resin for fracture repairs in order to self-repair in the field. This remains its most common use, but it also allows the droid to make a variety of other useful substances in small quantities, such as animal attractants, animal repellants, poisons, basic medicines, bacterial cultures, and even ration bars and protein wafers much like a Gyrowheel 1.42.08 recycling droid. As an afterthought to this process, a bio-stabilizer implant was added, allowing the droid to produce antidotes for poisons it is exposed to. Why these antidotes aren't useful to the droid itself, it does allow it provide them to friendly organic forces and nearby civilians.

STRENGTHS

• Bane of the Wilds: Myrmidons are designed to conduct warfare almost completely independently in harsh, wild areas with a minimum of logistical support. To that end, Myrmidons are capable of providing minor repairs to themselves and even synthesizing the repair materials from available 'food' in a given area or producing appropriate poisons or animal lures. All Myrmidons come with programming designed to teach the droid how to experience an environment and use that experience to adapt its existing survival and warfare programming for optimal performance. It does take time for a Myrmidon to learn this way, much like most organics, but Myrmidons operating in areas that they have known can be exceeding dangerous, turning elements of the environment itself into offensive advantages while melting away into terrain when attacked.
• More than Human: Myrmidon Synthetic Soldiers are typically more capable physically than the average human soldier thanks to their artificial skeletons and synthetic muscle system. While less powerful than that of many other battle droids, A Myrmidon's strength, endurance, and speed runs on the upper end of the human spectrum. Additionally, compared to humans, they have somewhat better physical durability and enhanced vision.
• Defense in Principle: Myrmidon Synthetic Soldiers are unusual in that they use synthetic, biologically based systems to effectively recreate a single living organism. Unlike most droids, the artificial muscles, organoform circuitry, bio-computer based brain, and a complex photochemical-based metabolism makes Myrmidons highly resistant to the original banes of battle droids: Ion/EMP weapons and hacking attempts. For most intents and purposes, Myrmidon has more conceptual principles in common with biot technology rather than typical droids.

WEAKNESSES

• Limited Intelligence: Myrmidons are artificial constructs made primarily to conduct war. Unsurprisingly then, they are not very adaptable to other situations nor do they possess an understanding of a variety of topics that might come into play during a conflict such as different cultural or societal norms or the operation of basic technologies. Even more so than other synthetic soldiers, Myrmidons have difficulty using or understanding even the most basic galactic standard technology without the use a knowledge cylinder or extensive and highly repetitive hands-on training.
• Difficult to Repair: Myrmidons complex, organic mimicking technology is significantly more difficult to repair than the average droid, with such procedures having more in common with surgery rather than simple mechanical repairs. While Myrmidons have a limited capability of rudimentary fixing minor damage given enough time and material, this process takes longer and results in reduced performance whereas another droid could simply have its components swapped out and replaced in a matter of minutes.
• Environmentally Prone: The same artificially organic components that allow Myrmidons to bypass to many of the common pitfalls of droids also makes them vulnerable to hazards that don't typically effect droids, such as radiation, contact with certain chemical substances, and certain diseases.

DESCRIPTION

Not content to rest solely on the success of their Hoplite and Praetorian series Synthetic Soldiers, Lucerne Labs soon turned their attention to making more specialized niche versions of synthetic soldiers, such as the Antiope series. As a counter balance to that highly advanced technological variant, another design team was tasked with making a synthetic soldier that would run much loser to being an actual biot than a droid, and thus making it less susceptible to Ion and EMP attacks than the other synthetic soldiers and more capable of supporting itself with a minimum of support. To that end, the resulting Myrmidon series Synthetic Soldiers use artificial muscles and an elaborate photo-chemical power drive system to operate. Perhaps more impressively, this system was designed in a matter that it can also produce a variety of chemical byproducts that can act as poisons, healing agents, chemical lures, and a variety of other practical uses. Combined with heuristic learning program and a vast knowledge of a specific environment, Myrmidons are ideal droids to conduct long-range missions in vast areas of wilderness or act as custodian guards in remote locations. Their fledging use has expanded recently with the rising threat of the Bryn'adul, as Myrmidons are both entirely disposable (compared to organics) but do not have the same susceptibility to the technological dampener fields used extensively by that civilization.

Technical Explanations:

Personality: Myrmidons only support a fairly simple personality matrix due to their use of the Psykhe Droid Brain. This limited personality also means that the droids are not capable of learning heuristically except for matters related to adapting to their environment. To partially compensate for this and make them less predictable, the droid can accept a variety of basic personalities that can typically be summed up in a single word. Some of the most common default personality types from the factory are described as “dutiful”, “wary”, and “aggressive”. All personality see themselves first and foremost as soldiers and warriors, which largely regulates and channels their personality's motivations and methodologies to productive ends.

Skillset: The Psykhe droid brain and its associated personality matrix are designed to support a warrior persona which is enabled by including a competency skillset of basic combat survival skills within the core programming itself. This core programming isn't terribly impressive by itself, but it serves primarily as a contextual junction point for the programming which comes from the three knowledge cartridges that can be inserted into the droid brain itself. These cartridges allow Synthetic Soldiers to be much more adaptable on the battlefield than many of their battle droid peers while making the process user-friendly even to those with limited technical skills. To change cartridge, the droid must be brought offline, the back of head panel accessed, the correct authorization credentials and passcodes entered. The cartridge can then be twisted in or out of the droid brain's adapters. Typically, one cartridge contains all of the information about the organization that the droid belongs to, such as its basic history, chain of command, strategic and tactical doctrines, and specific operations information (friend or foe programming, maps, etc). Another cartridge typically supports the programming to effectively operate a small number of specific weapons(ex. Alliance small arms) or a broad class of associated weapons(such as blaster rifles). Another cartridge is dedicated to processing and synthesizing different chemicals and materials in order to effectively use its biochem synthesizer. This allows the Myrmidon to make a variety of medicines, poisons, repellants, lures, foodstuffs, and other useful chemicals based on the materials at hand. The last slot in the Psykhe droid brain is fitted to the droid based on its deployment and contains information related to the environment, especially the flora and fauna of the world. This information is then used to inform and adapt other information found in the brain's other cylinders - such as the best method and chemical lure to bring in a pack of Howlrunners or the best hiding spots/techniques in a certain locale.

Artificial Anatomy: The Myrmidons are the most biomemetic synthetic soldiers made by Lucerne Labs, and possibly one of the closest in the galaxy, becoming very close in functioning to actual human replica droids. The Soma series Body Chassis is covered in Torolus series Artificial Muscles to almost fully replicate an organic creature's musculoskeletal system,, which in turn are covered by a thin quantum fiber underlay with synthflesh and hair as appropriate on top. These basic systems form the basis of the Myrmidon's appearance and ability to almost serve interchangeably for and among experienced humanoid wildland warriors. But Myrmidons not only emulate these warriors, but actually surpass them in few characteristics, which largely serves to make up for their poorer intellectual ability compared to organic soldiers. While its internal 'organs' are conceptually modeled on those of baseline organics, the digestive tract of the Myrmidons is capable of accepting and utilizing a much wider array of materials to produce energy, including some of which that are inorganic. Additionally, the inclusion of photovoltiac cells throughout the droid's skin allows it to passively obtain power from sunlight, useful for auxiliary power or to jumpstart the droid and more powerful and complex chemical power supply if the droid somehow runs out of power. Once the droid and its components have power, the droid brain acts much like a human brain, coordinating a variety of actions that are carried out through the organoform circuitry within the Soma series Droid Chassis (much like a human's nervous system) to the needed systems of the droid, such as its internal comlink or muscles. Biomemetically designing the droid in this fashion largely allows it to emulate human mechanisms and performance. Myrmidons do have some differences from humans though because of their artificial nature. While limited in creativity and intelligence, the Psykhe droid brain provides it with raw modularity or neural plasticity. Not only can it use different knowledge cartridges, but the brain can fluidly reorganize itself to be better at process information or coordinating physical motion. Likewise, the droids do not possess pain receptors, which allows them to keep fighting despite damages and wounds that normally kill or incapacitate a human soldier. Aiding in this effort, the quantum fiber underlay provides additional protection to the droid that people simply don't have. While it pales to the armor inherently worn by most battle droids, this underlay makes the droids less susceptible to damage from typically weaker attacks on the battlefield, such as from shrapnel or simple melee weapons. Using Hi-Sense Enhanced Eyes with improved visual acuity in discriminating between objects as well as resolving images at further distances, along with the ability to see the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums. The use of sensory impulse lines gives the droid an unusually life like sense of touch, while stimuli receptors allow the droid to track targets over far distances. The use of internal comlink also means that the droids do not to need to verbally speak to communicate, allowing them to silently act together in concert without the possibility of eavesdropping.

Physical Performance: To the typical onlooker, Myrmidons appear to have the same physical performance as an organic soldier in peak physical condition. The Torulus muscles are not subject to the typical lactic acid cycle within the human body, and thus have a higher endurance, especially when the Myrmidon has active material to break down into ions to help control the muscles. Much like the servo-motors found on other droids, the main limiting endurance factor is the amount of power available to the droid. The artificial muscles and Soma Droid Chassis provide the Myrmidon with sufficient strength, endurance, and grace to perform at the capability of an exceptional human athlete. A Myrmidon can easily perform such tasks as long marches, sudden sprints, or rockclimbing. As their endurance and frame is largely the result of its artificial construction, the droids can also carry and move around slightly more weight than many of their organic counterparts without any loss in physical performance. This may practically manifest itself as carrying an extra weapon, heavier armor, or more ammunition.

Weapons: Myrmidons do not come equipped with any offensive hardware of their own. However, with the right knowledge cartridge, they can proficiently use most weapons designed for humans and other humanoid species. Most militaries give the droids knowledge cartridges for weapons that well-suited for extended operations in the field with minimal maintenance: typically slugthrowers and melee weapons. These weapons also have the benefit of being able to have poisons synthesized by the droids applied to them. The Razorthorn Needle Carbine is a particular favorite for this task, as the Myrmidon can synthesize a variety of chemical connoctions which it can then fill empty darts with.

Defenses: Like humans, the most inherent physical defense of a Myrmidon is simply not getting hit, relying on their size and natural grace to avoid enemy fire or seek cover and/or concealment. However, they do possess a layer of quantum fiber which provides minor protection against many common threats such as shrapnel, primitive weapons, and glancing weapon strikes. Myrmidon often rely on wearing armor suits originally designed for organics to provide them with better defense. While these inherent defenses are weaker than the physical defenses of many battledroids, Myrmidons are conversely more resistant to the common weakpoints typical of many battle droids. Its chassis and droid brain designs combined with its use of artificial muscles makes it grossly unaffected by area of effect ion and EMP strikes. The use of an organoform circuitry and bio-computer based droid brain also make it unaffected by droid restraining bolts and significantly harder to hack as well as a matter of principle. This does not mean that the droid is immune to such attacks, but it is significantly harder to damage or destroy it through such means.