HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
Image Source: My own creation
Intent: To create final (hopefully) upgrade for HK's vessel body by replacing Durasteel and Cortosis layers covering his previous body with Phrik, also a symbol of entering "Master" level with the character.
Development Thread: Heavy Metal Hijinks- Phrik Mining with Domino and Rave, 29 posts.
HK's Iron Knight Combat Vessel- Foundation for the current upgrade.
Prepared to write more if required.
Manufacturer: Abregado-Rae Guild of Hammers
Model: Masterwork Duelist Droid Vessel
Affiliation: Abregado-Rae, HK-36, Omega Protectorate
Modularity: Components can be swapped out for further upgrades or changes to programming, or simply repairs.
Production: Unique with possibility or repairs or replacement.
Material: Main structure and armor plating made from Phrik, inner Asbestos layer, Transparisteel photoreceptors, Electrum droid components, Graphite Capsule inner protection, inner Copper Farraday Cage.
Classification: Class 4, 5th Degree
Weight: 80 kg
Height: 2.00 meters
Movement: Bipedal, capable of Quadrupedal, with Repulsorlift attachments in legs to augment jumping capabilities, speed, and letting his feet double as hands. (As with previous HK bodies)
Armaments: Two twin blaster repeaters mounted on top of the droid's forearms, retractable via shifting Phrik plating, two hidden vibroblades mounted beneath the droid's forearms, retractable via shifting Phrik plating. 8 large retractable hooked Phrik claws, 4 per foot, 12 smaller retractable Phrik talons, 1 per finger. Crushgaunt-like systems in hands.
Tri-capsule liquid or gas spewers mounted in the face-grill (Based on the Wrist variant of CBRW-1 Flamer)
Misc. Equipment: High speed rotary motors at the joints of wrists, waist, elbows, neck, ankles.
Repulsorlift attachments in feet for augmented jumping and speed.
Military grade Omega Pyre heat sensors and scanners based on HRD-2 droid systems (50 meters of range, 15 meter increase due to advancement)
State-of-the-Art HUD with tracking and targeting systems based on HRD-2 droid systems (50 meters of range, 15 meter increase due to advancement)
Sound dampening attachment
Build-In Communication Systems
Personal Deflector Shield based on the shielding used in Standard Variant of Defense Power Armor (Deflection on about 3 shots before penetration)
Shifting body plates based on HRD-2 shape-shifting systems.
Density projector.
Internal coolant systems.
Redundant droid brain and programming systems.
Self-destruction systems.
Description: It was no secret HK has been looking for an upgrade to his droid vessel for a period of time, as much as his armored body containing purified armor proved useful against lightsaber wielding opponents, the weakness of Cortosis to physical damage proved troublesome as soon as the enemy cut through the outer layer of durasteel armor the droid had. Another problem was the weight of the body itself, weighing around 160 kilograms the vessel would easily be at disadvantage in softer terrain such as swamps, deserts, or even trees.
Simple solution to all of this was for HK to replace both the layer of purified Cortosis and outer armor layer of Durasteel with Phrik plating, increasing both his durability as well as decreasing the weight of the whole body by around 50%, making it a much lighter model, and as such, a much faster one.
The lesser weight, although it does increase the droid's speed and agility as mentioned before, also makes him more vulnerable to certain types of attacks, specifically telekinetic manipulations. Of course this does not include crushing, imploding, exploding, tearing limbs, or breaking them, as Phrik is an extremely durable and in these aspects the droid is much better protected than it was before, however, he it is easier to throw, push, pull, or lift this body and manipulate it around like a rag doll as there is less weight anchoring it. Of course this can be solved through application of density projector, which creates artificial weight to anchor the droid, however this module could potentially be damaged during a fight or HK could be caught unaware and not have enough time to utilize the device, making him vulnerable to general telekinetic manipulation.
Going back to droid's Phrik plates, there are two layers of them, Outer Armor plates, the thicker of the two, and Inner Agility Plates, which still provide plenty of protection since they are made from Phrik, but they make up all of droid's joints, muscles, skeleton, and other more flexible areas like his neck. The Inner Agility Plates are usually smaller but there is much more of them, creating a scale sort of layer that allows the droid to rotate his joints at high speed or have much greater degrees of movement than he would otherwise, in contrast the Outer Armor plates tend to be larger, thicker solid plates connected to the Inner Agility Plates and the droid's skeleton itself to prevent them from being dislocated or broken off, but it also makes them rigid and inflexible. While Phrik's reaction to magnets are unknown to this writer, it is material which can disperse electricity, making this the first droid body which in itself would be resistant to electric attacks. However this does not always include ionic attacks which can include both magnetic and electrical attacks, as such an inner Copper Farraday Cage has been constructed around the internal components to grant them protection from any electric or electromagnetic attacks that could bypass the Phrik layer of armor.
There was still, of course, the issue of thermal attacks on the armor and possibilities of overheating and damaging internal systems. For this purpose the armor has been air-sealed with the Phrik plates, creating total layer of defense as well as preventing from any liquids, such as napalm, to seep through any cracks or crevices in the droid body and create internal damage, this also allows him to float in water rather than sink as he is hollow inside. The weakest point of this design are the photoreceptor-sockets, while they are small targets the two holes have been covered up in a thick layer of transparisteel, still a durable material but neither lightsaber-resistant nor as durable as Phrik, making them the weakest point in the body as their penetration can lead to blinding of the unit and possible destruction of components housed in the droid's head.
To minimize the risk of this causing the unit's defeat a second set of calculation and memory units which house the protocols and programmings, i.e. a droid brain, has been placed in the chest of the droid, not only in its head. To go along with it third photoreceptor and sensor unit has been installed in the middle of the droid's chest, this unit usually stays disabled and turned off, however, should the two photoreceptors housed in the head fail, the third unit could activate to allow the droid to continue combat, or increase accuracy if the head-units are still active. However, this unit needs to be uncovered at such a time, meaning if the droid is wearing any additional chest plates, unless they allow for the third unit to see through, they need to be taken off. This also does mean that the unit utilizing this body, like the infamous Magnaguard, can survive decapitation and continue to fight. The redundant chest systems can also function as a black-box of the droid, housed in special Echani Graphite to protect the visual and audio logs of the machine.
Going back to the over-heating problem, while the unit does have a miniature fan systems standard with other modern droids, it also contains a special chemical-based cooling system contained in Graphite capsules inside the head and torso. Should the temperature reach critical levels the chemicals inside are activated to form endothermic reaction and absorb the heat inside the droid, i.e. cool it. The droid have as well an inner layer of Asbestos to prevent excess heat from entering its body, this also keeps the heat inside of the droid, meaning during strainous prolonged activities it can potentially over-heat due to increased power-unit radiation.
The Phrik plates in general are connected to Shape-Shifting systems similar to those used in HRD-2 systems, with that the droid can adjust how thick or thin it is and how tall it is, this could be useful during combat scenarios to fit into smaller spaces, or become taller to reach higher locations, but it does have its limits, stretching too body too far can create openings in the armor plates, and making it compact too much can make the plates collapse into each other and overlap.
Now, the fun part, the weaponry systems of the droid's models.
While the previous HK body had only one repeater and one wrist-blade, this model has two wrist-blades this time mounted underneath the forearms, and two wrist-repeaters, mounted over the forearm inside the Phrik vambrace plates of the droid. These two systems have their own power supplies, meaning that they do not cause greater stress on the droid's main systems, but it does make them easier to damage or deactivate either by power running out in their systems or just through blunt damage in battle, the droid's body cannot stop shock-waves, vibrations, or just being thrown around.
The unit also has previous body's retractable talons and claws, however, this time they are made from Phrik and without the lacing of Cortosis. This does take away the ability to turn off lightsabers, but makes the blades much more resistant, they do have electromagnetic systems once more for clinging to metal surfaces, like ships or metal buildings, making these blades a great tool for anchoring oneself or just climbing, one of the reasons why HK most often uses them for climbing rather than combat itself. The claws on the feet are as dexterous as fingers would be, that and the built-in strong repursorlift systems allow the droid to use them as hands if he would wish to, wielding three weapons at once by grabbing one with his foot, or just standing on his hands and fighting with his feet if he felt like it.
Finally, a completely new addition are the tri-capsule liquid or gas spewers, basically a converted wrist-mounted flamer mounted in the droid's grill to spit either gas or liquid like one of those cobras would. Yeah, cobra spitting powers. Anyway, the beauty of this mechanism is that the gas or liquid already comes high-pressured in the durable Echani Graphite Capsules, allowing the droid to pick a combination of three different substances to be armed with before each mission, and then later-rearmed as the system can be reloaded easily. These could include gas like Force Breaker, acid, Bacta for quick healing, napalm for setting something on fire with addition of a spark, or smoke barrier for example. However, these systems can also be easily damaged, meaning whatever contents they hold, they can be knocked out or even burst with a good hit, causing the droid's head to be covered with whatever substance they hold, that is if whoever facing him knows how to cause that.
Last pieces of weaponry are the strong rotors in droid's arms and hands, allowing him to use his limbs as a crushgaunt of sorts, able to kill his opponent or crack their armor by extending pressure on them over prolonged periods of time, just smashing it in his hands or strangling them to break their bones pretty much.
Moving on to miscellaneous pieces of equipment the droid has,
Biggest addition is the personal shield system on design "borrowed" from the Defense Power Armor the Omega Protectorate has equipped his soldiers with. The droid's body is big enough to support a Standard Variant of the shielding system with his power supply without greater strains, allowing the droid to field his own personal deflector shield with enough juice to deflect about 3 blaster shots or equivalent before shutting off to recharge.
The droid also has two self-destruction systems in place, one in head and one in torso, this is connected to his HUD and would allow him to self-destruct when faced with possibility of capture or just as tactical maneuver to ultimately defeat the enemy. The self-destruction systems overcharge the droid's power supply, causing them to meltdown and result in an explosive equal to multiple thermal detonators going off to evaporate all of his systems outside of temporary logs in secure separate Echani Graphite capsules which would act as black boxes, and with enough shockwave and kick to damage any enemies in his proximity, of course this is hampered by droid's Phrik body as it would dampen and stifle the explosion.
Another difference between this droid and previous HK model is the improved Sensors, Scanners, Tracking, and Targeting components, their range is increased to 50 meters from previous 35 meters and their speed has also improved, allowing for faster targeting and trajectory calculations to be conducted.
Final difference between this droid and the others are a bit more fluid shape for greater aerodynamics, making it resembles even more like the vessel used by General Grievous rather than an HK droid, it also uses a lighter paintjob, being colored silver rather than steel-grey as the previous droid.
While everything else the droid has to offer and contains is the same as with previous model, blueprints for this unit has been saved by the Guild of Hammer in case a replacement would ever have to be constructed.
In summary, it is a beast of a droid on which HK has worked for a long time, with plenty of strengths, like increased number of weapon systems, the shield system, the fact that its made almost entirely of Phrik, and that is lighter, and therefore faster than previous combat body. However, it also has much more weaknesses, weak points like its photoreceptor sockets, the lesser weight allows him to be much more easier manipulated via telekinesis, and all the additional systems have their own little flaws and ways to exploit them.
