Balldozer
❝ Do Not Anger The Hamster. ❞
BALLDOZER
❝ Do not anger the hamster. ❞
❝ Do not anger the hamster. ❞
TITLE INFORMATION
STATUS: Active
OCCUPATION(S):
- Test Subject (formerly)
- Mech Pilot
- Mechanic
- Explorer
AFFILIATION(S): n/a
HOMEWORLD: Aleen
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
SEX: Male
AGE: 14
HEIGHT: 0.4 m/40 cm (1'04")
WEIGHT: 6 kg (13.2 lbs)
EYES: Brown
FUR: Anzac Orange
LANGUAGE(S) KNOWN:
- Loth-Cat - Fluent
- Galactic Basic - Receptive
- requires mech to translate for others to understand
- Binary - Fluent
FORCE SENSITIVITY: n/a
VOICE: x
STATISTICS
STRENGTHS
- Hyper-Intelligence - As a result of Gizmo's genetic therapy upon birth, he began exhibiting exceptional growth in brain function. Seizing this potential, Gizmo's upbringing has taught him impressive problem solving skills and adaptability to new situations. While incapable of speaking it, he can perfectly understand Galactic Basic, and has grown to a fully sentient lifeform.
- Tinkerer - One of the very first things Gizmo experienced interest in was mechanical engineering. Practicing on small objects such as flashlights and fans, the hybrid would soon grow to become a capable mechanic, able to construct complex droid prototypes, as well as repair starships and broken down vessels rather quickly due to his fast acting feet and small stature, allowing him to get into places for repairs normal people wouldn't.
- Pilot - Another interest of his, the creation of mechs eventually tempted Gizmo into piloting them. While taking command of starships isn't out of the realm of possibility for him, Gizmo excels at piloting small mechs, and as such is rather familiar with the functionality of firearms.
- Animal Instincts - Despite evolving far beyond the mental conditions possessed by his spliced DNA components (loth-cats and rodents), Gizmo still finds himself with deep feral instincts buried deep down that occasionally arise. These include nocturnal sleeping patterns, persistent hunting, and the use of his sharp claws and teeth against enemies when cornered.
- Low Profile - Gizmo's short stature allows him to sneak past enemies undetected fairly easily.
- BALLDOZER Mech - Gizmo's major strength is, of course, the quadruped mech he pilots and is rarely seen without. Forged using the components of a broken down Droideka, Gizmo has since severely upgraded and modified his mech, which he has affectionately nicknamed Balldozer - his alias. Balldozer has a very minimal A.I., and acts not only as a battle vessel for Gizmo, but also as a translation device, as the mech speaks Galactic Basic, which Gizmo cannot.
Balldozer has several tools and abilities at its disposal:
- The Quad-Cannons have a mag size of 80 bullets before needing to reload for 2.1 seconds, and have a rate of fire of 25 shots per second.
- The Grappling Claw has a maximum range of 23 metres, and eventually retracts to 6 metres upon successful tether.
- The Quad-Cannons are automatically reloaded when ball form is activated.
- Unlike a Droideka, Balldozer doesn't need to be near-stationary for the shields to activate. In exchange, however, the shields only last a measly 7 seconds, and are unable to be activated for another 15.
- Piledriver can only be activated when Balldozer's altitude is at least 2.25 meters, and is unable to be activated again until 10 seconds.
- If Minefield is deployed while Balldozer is mid-air, the spread of the mines is severely increased.
WEAKNESSES
- Over-Reliance - While Gizmo may be incredibly intelligent, especially for his species, he still nonetheless requires outside sources in order to be of any threat. Without mechs or firearms, he is pathetically easy to overpower, being forced to rely on his claws and teeth - things that are very easily dealt with. Strip Gizmo of his access to Balldozer, and you've left him insanely vulnerable.
- Small and Fragile - Gizmo's short stature lends itself to his ability to sneak around if he were without his mech, but during a one on one confrontation, he is very easy to contain and capture, and even easier to injure and kill. Being as small as he is makes him incredibly susceptible to Kinetic abilities, and his vital organs and overall body are so compact that a mere swift kick in the chest can lead to near death.
- BALLDOZER Downsides - Balldozer is incredibly useful, and provides Gizmo an insane amount of utility on the battlefield. Having said that, there are still some very noticeable flaws the mech has, with weakspots keen-eyed enemies may take advantage of:
- Hard to Miss - Suffice to say, the mech itself is incredibly large. This makes Balldozer an incredibly easy target, effectively making it a bullet sponge. In order to avoid taking damage, Gizmo would need the mech to constantly stay in ball form as to manoeuvre faster - however, the Quad-Cannons are unable to be used during ball form, meaning he'd need to singlehandedly rely on swing damage dealt by Grappling Claw.
- Still A Droid - Balldozer may have been repurposed to act as a mech, but it still primarily consists of Droideka components. As such, the mech remains incredibly vulnerable to anti-droid weaponry, as well as things such as EMPs and ION damage.
- QUAD-CANNONS: Balldozer's Quad-Cannons deal pitiful damage, and with a high rate of fire and a low magazine size, Gizmo finds himself reloading very often, which itself takes quite a lengthy amount of time. This leads to difficulty in securing a kill, as the Quad-Cannons often run out of ammo before finishing the final blow, allowing enemies to retaliate or bait out attacks, as the cannons are also prone to overheating fairly quickly.
- GRAPPLING CLAW: Balldozer's Grappling Claw requires clear line of sight in order to connect. Once tethered, it is possible for an enemy to completely sever the grapple itself, leaving the mech without any way to anchor itself as it takes time to generate a new hook. Upon an unsuccessful attempt to connect to something, Balldozer has to wait 2 seconds before trying again, letting enemies capitalize on his mistake.
- In order for Balldozer to deal swing damage, it needs to reach a high velocity. This is completely countered by stuns, freezes, and any and all means of slowing down movement, as the mech will immediately lose all momentum and will need to start over.
- ROLL: Roll's biggest downside is the inability to fire the Quad-Cannons while it's active, as Balldozer sacrifices firepower for mobility. While this means for easier navigation, the mech is rather helpless to retaliate and escape at the same time.
- Much like Grappling Claw, another firm counter to Roll are movement-deterrents. If you manage to slow it down while in ball form, you've effectively nabbed yourself an even easier target, as it means Balldozer has sacrificed its firepower for nothing.
- ADAPTIVE SHIELDS: The main weakness of the Adaptive Shields is its short duration. Lasting only 7 seconds, the shields are used more as a means to delay the inevitable as opposed to directly absorb incoming damage. While they may be used while in ball form, and thus don't come with the vulnerability that a Droideka's shields come with, they are nonetheless still significantly weaker.
- Adaptive Shields are incredibly weak to EMPs, which disable the shields immediately.
- PILEDRIVER: Piledriver can only be used when at least 2.25 metres in the air. The easiest counter to this is to simply deny Balldozer the ability to get that high, and if Grappling Hook has been severed, this forces Balldozer to reach high heights via alternate means such as stairs and ground levels, which take a considerably longer time.
- Additionally, Balldozer is left planted in the ground for a few seconds upon using Piledriver, making it easy to punish if the attack misses its target.
- MINEFIELD: Minefield's main downside is its egregious charge time - a hefty 6 hours, meaning Balldozer is often only allowed one chance at using it during battles. This makes its use very important, as it's very easily wasted.
- The mines themselves only last for 20 seconds. While this means a secure area denial, it also means that enemies can simply wait it out until the mines fizzle away. Additionally, the mines can be safely destroyed with blasters, as they will not explode or deal damage unless physically connecting to somebody.
APPEARANCE & PERSONALITY
Gizmo is a short, plump rodent-like creature, consisting primarily of Loth-Rat DNA. His coloration comes from the Loth-Cat DNA spliced alongside it, resulting in a unique lifeform born of prey and its predator. Gizmo is recognizable primarily due to his bushy eyebrows and mischievous gaze, as well as the durasteel embedded into his forehead for protection against those aiming for his head. The hybrid often carries with him a small backpack, secured via a harness around his chest, which contains his repair tools. Often accompanied by Gizmo is his mech, Balldozer, an incredibly large, spherical vessel with twin blaster cannons and quadruple legs. Gizmo usually remains seated inside the upper hatch above the mech's front, from which he pilots it. Balldozer was created primarily from the parts of a discarded Droideka, and as such shares several similarities with one.
Personality-wise, Gizmo is incredibly intelligent, being witty and conniving. He expresses sincere interest in mechanics, engineering, and all things robotic, from droids to starfighters. He has a tendency to get himself into trouble from the almost childish sense of curiosity he has, wanting to continuously broaden his horizons and expand his knowledge. Gizmo also has a sassy side to him, with cocky remarks and playful comments coming from him quite frequently. Balldozer is equipped with a very minor A.I., and translates Gizmo's comments via a soundboard. Balldozer's voice is monotone, and experiences very little personality of its own, mostly being used as a vessel for Gizmo to fight and communicate with. With that being said, Gizmo still considers the mech somewhat of a friend, and has a strong attachment to it on levels beyond it being his creation.
BIOGRAPHY
Gizmo's story starts following the events of Thistlecrown's creation - an experiment in creating Kindalo capable of withstanding the oxygen outside the depths of Aleen. Upon his birth, xenobiologists noted progress, but insisted on perfecting their craftmanship. The years that followed had biologists and scientists alike keep tabs on the Kindalo between trips to other planets. On a short visit to the planet of Lothal, one scientist noted the entertaining show between a local loth-cat attempting to secure its kill on a loth-rat. Intrigued by the idea of attempting a combination of the two, the trip back to Aleen was made a much interesting one upon discussion with his peers.
While work on a successor to Thistlecrown began, which would end up resulting in the late Springwood, a few scientists dedicated their time to creating a hybrid of Lothal creatures. Eventually, they would see the birth of a successful attempt: Subject#0003, a small but feisty creation. It was given genetic therapy in order to grow accustomed to the unique air of Aleen, something that would soon bring the unexpected side effect of growth in both the subject's body as well as its brain and subsequent intelligence. Realizing that they had potentially created not only a hybrid, but a sentient creature, more work began on Subject#0003, conditioning it with puzzles that would scale in difficulty.
As the creature matured, Subject#0003 would gain interest in the machinations throughout the facility used to work on Subject#0002. Not before long, it had become enthralled with the idea of engineering, and the creature was promptly nicknamed 'Gizmo' after its infatuation with gadgets. The complex puzzles soon turned to repairing machinery, with Gizmo's progress improving more and more over time.
Years following his birth, progress on the Springwood Project would reach its final processes, and Gizmo had since perfected the art of mechanical engineering. On the day of Springwood's birth, the planet of Aleen would be greeted by the presence of an assassin droid hired to eliminate the target, causing mass panic throughout the facility. As the hysteria resulted in chaos, scientists rushed to alert Thistlecrown before he too was terminated, preparing a small starship for his escape. Sensing his opportunity, Gizmo would begin work on a tiny vessel to attach to the ship, his small stature resulting in him being ignored during the chaos, undetected by the assassin as it moved towards the Kindalo dwelling beneath the surface.
As Thistlecrown emerged, he boarded the starship, oblivious to Gizmo's involvement or existence at all as he snuck into the vessel attached to it. The starship was capable of taking off, albeit damaged by a sniped shot by the droid, and Thistlecrown entered hyperspace, unknowingly bringing Gizmo with him. As the ship exited hyperspace, the damage dealt by the shot caused the back panel to loosen, and as the ship began to crash, Gizmo's tether snapped, resulting in his vessel falling onto a completely separate continent of the planet Oon.
Crash landing on a foreign planet, Gizmo was quick to get his bearings and learn of his surroundings. Luckily, he had landed near a scrapyard - an excellent location for scavenging through discarded items to create some protection against the galaxy. Wandering inside, the hybrid would be met with a plethora of broken down machinery, enough to get his excited mind itching for days as he ponders through the immense possibilities of vessels to create. None, however, caught his attention quite as much as the sight of a fallen Droideka. Inspired by such a fascinating droid, Gizmo quickly got to work, putting the repair skills he'd been taught throughout all his years to good use.
Using the vessel he'd escaped with as a base, the hybrid welded it together with the Droideka's droid components, complimented by any other machinery he could get his paws on during his time scavenging. A process that took a few months, Gizmo had successfully created his very first mech - affectionately calling it the Balldozer, he'd equip it with minimal A.I. in order to better communicate with the planet's locals, as well as give him the company he needed during the travels he had planned.
Hiding his identity and adopting the alias 'Balldozer' under the guise of a new series of droid, Gizmo would set out to travel the planet of Oon in search for a starship to pilot. Hitching rides with strangers, the duo made it their ambition to finally explore the corners of the galaxy outside the facility Gizmo had spent his entire life caged within. With a sense of adventure and a myriad of hijinks in store for him, Gizmo- no, Balldozer set out to make his name known.
Nothing could stop him now!
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