Unreviewed Cyber-Zombie

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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a form of Technobeast unique to the Dzara
• Image Credit: Link and Link
• Canon: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: N/A

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Name: Cyber-Zombie (Blightspawn)
• Designation: Semi-Sentient
• Origins: Created by the Tarnaci Blight on behalf of the Dzara
• Average Lifespan: Indefinite
• Estimated Population: Usually Scattered, can become Planetary in the event of an outbreak.
• Description: Towering, cannibal horrors created by the actions of the Tarnaci Blight.

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

• Breathes: N/A
• Average Height of Adults: 2-2.4 meters
• Average Length of Adults: N/A
• Skin color: The skin color they possessed in life.
• Hair color: Often hairless, but may possess remaining strands of the same color as the living organism from which they sprang.
• Distinctions: Extended height, great physical strength and resilience, visible Blightsteel augmentations
• Races: N/A
• Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive

Strengths:

• Unliving Horde: Cyber-Zombies are unaffected by fear (mundane or supernatural), poisons, diseases, radiation, extremes of temperature, or any effect that would cloud, delude, or control their minds.
• Cyber-Curse: Cyber-Zombies are rife with disease. Their attacks can potentially spread Tarnaci Blight to their victims.
• Better, Faster, Stronger: Cyber-Zombies are physically superior to most humanoids in terms of strength, speed, and resilience.

Weaknesses:

• Mindless: Cyber-Zombies, unless micromanaged, tend to default to simple "walk towards it and shoot/stab it until it dies" tactics. Likewise, they will not seek cover or attempt to avoid imminent incoming harm unless explicitly ordered to do so. Lastly, they lose any Force sensitivity/abilities they may have once possessed in life.
• Rigor Mortis: Cyber-Zombies typically have somewhat slower reflexes and poorer accuracy than living soldiers, and rely more on their sheer numbers and resilience to win fights.

CULTURE

• Diet: None needed, but display vestigial eating behavior.
• Communication: Groans, snarls, inhuman screeches.
• Technology level: Cyber-zombies do not create or utilize technology, save that which is part of their own bodies.
• Religion/Beliefs: N/A
• General behavior: When not in active battle, Cyber-Zombies tend to simply lay around inert. They are typically social creatures, and are seldom (if ever) encountered alone.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Victims of the Tarnaci Blight, Cyber-Zombies are the most common form of horror created by that dread affliction.

For better or worse, zombies are a regrettably common sight on worlds besieged by the Sith. Whether transformed by supernatural afflictions or raised by the will of the Dark Side, they exist in a wide variety of forms and strains, doing the unholy will of their masters.

Cyber-Zombies are a Dzara-crafted perfection of the concept, an improvement upon their more common counterparts by virtually every metric.

Most are created from the bodies of civilians, as military personnel or more specialized personages tend to become stronger, deadlier Blightforms than these.

Should such a person succumb to the Tarnaci Blight, the disease wreaks a number of rapid changes upon the body. The first, and most obvious, is size. Cyber-Zombies are tall creatures, typically in excess of 2 meters, as the disease reshapes the corpse's physique into a form more suited for combat.

The second is physical appearance. Cyber-Zombies often possess a cadaverous, near-skeletal form, sporting grinning exposed skulls and glowing photoreceptors. One arm is normally transformed into a natural ranged weapon, used to spray Atter, and the other becomes a metallic claw or blade. However, exceptions exist, and Cyber-Zombies have been spotted dual-wielding either ranged or melee limbs.

The third, and less immediately obvious, are a bewildering variety of internal changes. Bones are replaced with Blightsteel-reinforced analogues, rendering the creatures dramatically more durable than the average walking corpse, and musculature is laced with fine metallic filaments, significantly increasing the creature's strength. More than a few would-be melee attackers have been killed after being swiftly overpowered by their seemingly-frail opponent.

Cyber-Zombies tend to be mediocre marksmen, but in numbers can still prove lethal through sheer volume of fire. They are usually slow, lumbering things when not agitated, but this is just as deceptive as their apparent lack of muscle. When motivated by nearby prey, they can sprint at a respectable clip, often more than enough to overtake most typical humanoid life forms.

Cyber-Zombies are lacking in the departments of self-preservation and complex strategy, but will follow orders from living Dzara personnel should any be available. This is aided by the tendency of the Blight to create internal comms equipment or its equivalent, allowing the zombies to receive orders as living soldiers would. When capably lead and directed, they become exponentially more dangerous, as a commander may combine the virtues of a living mind's strategy with the dogged tenacity and fearlessness these creatures exemplify.

Worse still, Cyber-Zombies are highly infectious, carrying the Blight within their bodies. Those wounded by the shots or strikes of these horrors run the risk of becoming Cyber-Zombies themselves, and even a small group of these creatures can rapidly balloon in numbers.

This is compounded by a tendency toward cannibalism. While less likely to waste time eating the dead than traditional Sith zombies, they will nonetheless engage in cannibal behavior should no visible threats be present.