HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
HK's Prototype Vessel- [member="The Dark Templar"]
"Little Me" Child Vessel
Young Adult Vessel- [member="Inkblot"]
Female Vessel
Spacer Vessel- [member="Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae"]
Adult Vessel
Elder Vessel
Image: First taken from Tumblr, gif with a scene with the Janitor from the tv show Scrubs (link here), Second taken from Imgur, gif of Gavroche from the movie Les Miserables compiled by LizzieLoo (link here), Third taken from Tumblr, gif of Enjolras from the movie Les Miserables compiled by EnjolrasTheChief (link here), Fourth taken from Comic Vine, a gif of Brienne of Tarth from the tv show Game of Throne (link here), Fifth taken from Mashables, a gif of Brienne of Tarth from the tv show Game of Throne compiled by Annie Colbert (link here), Sixth taken from Tumblr, a gif of Liam Neeson as Schindler from movie Shindler's List, compiled by Astrid Helps (link here), Seventh taken from Les Miserables Wiki, a gif of Russel Crowe as Javert from the movie Les Miserables (link here), Eight and last taken from The Hollywood News, a screenshot with Ian McKellen from the play King Lear (link here)Intent: To upgrade HK's prototype HRD body and give him multiple appearances for possible espionage purposes.
Development Thread: If necessary
Manufacturer: Abregado-Rae Guild of Hammers
Model: Human Replica Droid-2
Affiliation: Barony of Abregado-Rae, Omega Protectorate
Modularity: Come in different humanoid shapes and sizes, only human species appearance available so far, option to have a face and body plate-shifting systems.
Production: Limited (Droids which are accepted for the New Beginning Project are very carefully chosen in order to avoid terrible incidents in them going AWOL and murderous)
Material: Sophisticated synthskin and biofiber on a Echani Graphite Filament and Plasteel Skeleton
Description: Based on the successful HRD-prototype body given to HK by the Omega Protectorate.
The original body given to HK has quickly found work as the droid used it to assume the alter-ego of the Dark Templar, a Guildmaster of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, a disguise the HRD uses to this day. HK has requested for at least two more HRD's to be made for him, including a body that would become known as Sammo the adventuring Spacer, however the Guildmaster body was left unique in the lightsaber resistance its skeleton held. Other HRD copies were much less durable than the Guildmaster Prototype HRD, made as copies of the older HRD bodies manufactured in the Galaxy.
And so, finally, HK has decided to draw plans for upgraded version of the HRD vessels, as well as upgrade his existing HRD bodies and make new ones to handle all the business he was facing and offer more espionage purposes. Among the new bodies he has requested were upgraded versions of Sammo, Inkblot, and Guildmaster, the three existing HRD's he was already using, as well as a Child Vessel, an unassuming HRD with deadly capabilities for ambushes and assassinations, Female Vessel, because Siobhan once told HK to get boobs, plus nobody would expect for him to appear as a female, Adult Vessel, of an aging soldier with stern eyes and taste for justice, and an Elder Vessel, of an old bearded man with kind look in his eyes and compassion to other beings.
And so, these HRD's have been built upon the designs used for the Prototype, however, instead of the pricey Cortosis it was the Echani Filaments used to augment the strength of the droid skeleton, increasing not only resistance to energy weapons like the lighsaber, but also physical damage, making the bones harder to break or crush. It was also plasteel used instead of bronzium as before for the main structure of the skeleton and the Gados have figured out a way how to add plate-shifting mechanisms to droids' bodies and faces while keeping the droid lighter than the HRD Prototype and harder to detect via scanners.
While Plasteel by itself is weaker than Bronzium or Durasteel, the bone structure have been woven with the mentioned Echani Graphite Filament to increase the durability it had to offer, especially against energy-weapons like the lighsabers. However, this structure is still weaker than a normal droid with similar plating would be, these bones could be broken upon great force, such as crushing from a tall building, Master of Telekinesis, really big blasts, and huge physical trauma like that. However, the boon of Plasteel and Graphite structure is that it cannot be detected like the Durasteel would via metal detectors or similar scanners sensitive to metal materials. As such this augments an HRD's innate ability to keep its nature hidden even from advanced medical and military scanners. The voice box of the droid also remains sounding like a human's voice would, without the electronic quality, and giving the droid's an ability to emote via tone and fluctuation.
The shifting plate mechanisms give droids an interesting option, they can make their bodies thicker, thinner, taller, or smaller at will, however, this should not be over-done for it would damage the synthskin and biofiber layer, leading to tears and outer damage that could frighten organics and give away the true nature of the droids. This is something, however, HK could utilize especially well in his Child Vessel. The small droid body could stretch to the height of a grown man, tearing the outer layer of skin and biofiber in gruesome display, as the droid could use the built-in weaponry on the plasteel skeleton, claws and talons similar to those on his combat body, to assassinate the shocked target. After all, nobody's expecting for a kid to turn into a skeletal droid killing machine. Either way, this gives the droids an option to slightly shape-shift their features and appearance, as long as they don't over-do it it would not damage the synthskin and biofiber components of the body.
Another advantage of these bodies over humans are their increased strength and agility. While they are not as fast or strong as a normal droid would be, for example HK's Combat Body or a dedicated war droid, they are more physically capable than their organic counterparts. For example, small droids like HK's Child Vessel are as strong and swift as a grown adult man would be, while bigger versions reach physical capabilities of more brute beings, like the Wookiees, Herglic, or Cragmoids. There's also the fact that, unlike organics, the droids do not get tired.
While these are indeed a great tool, HK does not want to keep them just to himself, he sees these bodies as more than just weapons, but also a gate through which Droids and Organics could blend together and become equal. That is where the Project New Beginning comes in, with it HK gives droids a chance to abandon their metal bodies and take appearance of an organic. However, this project is very restrictive and limited, counting only few of droids like that on whole of Abregado-Rae, as HK does not want these bodies to be given to a droid who could abuse them and utilize them for mass-murder purposes. While some of the droids who are given this chance enlist in Barony's services as agents, spies, and assassins, they are given an option to resign and just live a peaceful life in an HRD body as they see fit.
In summary, these advanced bodies, although more durable than the prototype was, are meant for blending in and espionage rather than pure combat, they give the droids, as well as HK an option to "shape-shift" the droid way, by either shifting the plates of their bodies or swap the bodies entirely. Whether the technique of utilizing multiple different bodies, either one at a time or multiple at once as in the cases of Grandmaster and Sammo being HK's alternate personas, will lead to HK developing multiple personalities is unknown. It's not like he wasn't crazy to begin with.
Classification: Class 4, 5th Degree (As with the HRD Prototype)
Weight: Up to 80 kilograms, depending on the size of the droid
Height: Up to 2 meters
Movement: Bipedal
Armaments: Plasteel claws and talons hidden in the Child Vessel's digits, possible built-in plasteel wrist-blades for other models for assassination purposes.
Misc. Equipment: Military grade Omega Pyre heat sensors and scanners (35 meters of range) and Advanced HUD with tracking and targeting systems based on those used in Mobile Weapons Platforms (35 meters of range) all of these systems improved with technological advancement (range increased by 5 meters)
