Commodore Helix
Disintegrations done dirt cheap.
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To produce elite airborne troops for Helix Solutions
- Image Source: Link
- Canon Link: B1A Air Battle Droid
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: Wookiepedia, B1A Air Battle Droid
- Manufacturer: Helix Solutions
- Affiliation: Helix Solutions
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: HSA Shrike
- Modularity: Yes
- Production: Limited
- Material: Durasteel, Impervium, Phrik, Droid components, jetpack components, repulsor components
- Classification: Fourth-Degree
- Weight: Average
- Height: Average
- Movement: Bipedal (Walking) Repulsor/Jet (Flying)
- Armaments:
- Inbuilt E-5H Blaster Rifle (1, Left Arm)
- Inbuilt E-4H Blaster Carbine (1, Right Arm)
- Inbuilt Retractable HH4 Rocket Launcher (1, Upper Torso)
- Retractable Phrik-Alloy Vibroblades (2, Each Arm)
- Misc. Equipment: Repulsor Pack, Jetpack, Small Shield Projector
- Resistances (Optional):
- Energy: High (Very High with Shield)
- Kinetic: High
- Lightsabers: High (Very High with Shield)
- Ion: High
- Flame: Very Low
- Cryo: Very Low
- Capable of long sustained flight.
- Heavily armored.
- Carries small shield projector to deflect projectile fire or lightsabers.
- Very intelligent droid brain.
- Band of the Hawk: These droids are the first strike of Helix Solutions, typically dropped behind enemy lines to wreak havoc. As such, they are capable of sustained atmospheric or void flight under their own power.
- Durable: As they often operate with minimal or even no support, these droids are equipped with layers of expensive armored metals, as well as a small personal shield projector capable of deflecting small arms fire or melee weapons.
- Assault Troops: These droids are well-armed, possessing both long and short-ranged blaster weapons, as well as a limited number of rockets from a cut-down version of the HH4 concealed in their upper torsos. Furthermore, each is programmed to be a relatively skilled melee combatant, and can extend short saber-resistant vibroblades from their gauntlets.
- Mavericks: These droids are arrogant, sharing something of a rivalry with the H4X corps, and disruptive behavior between the two models is common.
- Hot n' Cold: While they are highly resistant to most conventional forms of damage, the Shrike droids are vulnerable to cryonic and incendiary weapons, as both can compromise their flight systems and send them crashing to the earth in pieces.
Helix's elite air assault troops, known more simply as the Shrike, were the result of a growing, sorely-apparent need for troops that could strike enemy rear lines from the air, and retreat before reprisal got too heavy.
Somewhat similar in general outline to the B1H, these droids were in fact far superior, being somewhat bulkier and more heavily-armored. Folding wings protruded from their backs, in a manner reminiscent of insects, and they carried themselves with an arrogant swagger, when they deigned to touch the ground at all.
Capable of blisteringly fast flight or hovering in place, these droids were also famously maneuverable, and rumors abounded of them landing on in-flight fighters, sawing away at vulnerable systems with their weapons. Equipped with both repulsor-based and jet-based flight systems, they were capable of operating in-atmosphere or in vacuum. Each was armed with both long-range and short-range phosphorus blasters, as well as a limited number of rockets from a cut-down variant of the HH4, revealed when their upper torso folded away.
Most unusually, these droids were also created to be skilled melee combatants, in a manner similar to the famous H4X corps. Each carried retractable, saber-resistant vibroblades within their bulky forearms, along with a small shield projector that could block and repel sabers or small arms.
As a result, they were usually dropped behind enemy lines in small teams to butcher rear-echelon personnel, bypass deadlocked battle-lines, or lead assaults on dug-in positions.
Lastly, the Shrike models were equipped with intelligent and adapable droid intelligences, programmed with a myriad forms of knowledge for their specialized tasks, and the discernment to use each to best effect.
Unsurprisingly, a rivalry quickly developed between these machines and the H4X, and both groups despised one another, denouncing the other as glory-hounds or rabble-rousers. When they thought they could get away with it, acts of outright sabotage were not unheard of, and as such Helix typically kept these troops separate.
While they were capable of taking substantial small arms fire to bring down, these droids were vulnerable to thermal or cryonic weapons, either capable of bypassing their defenses and bringing them down in short order.
