Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide an astromech droid in Lucerne Labs product line-up
- Image Source:here
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
- Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi Concord, Lucerne Labs customers
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: L2 Navigator-series Astromech Droid
- Modularity: tools; knowledge cartridges
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: alusteel chassis, Bia series Portable Fusion Generator, typical droid components
- Classification: Second Degree
- Weight: Light
- Height: Small
- Movement: treads / wheel / pop-out rocket boosters in legs
- Armaments: spark projector
- Misc. Equipment:
- General
- Heuristic processor with advanced micro-processing module
- Astrogation Buffer (12 jumps)
- magnetic feet
- Internal comlink
- G-series Holoprojection Unit
- scomp link
- Droid automated repair upgrade
- Knowledge Cartridge input slots (x2)
- Internal storage bay (room for 3 kg)
- Sensors
- Tools (default - all retractable)
- heavy duty grasper arm
- fine manipulator arm
- HL Automata-Assisted Welding Laser arm
- Type 10 cutting saw
- FastTurn-3 Hydrospanner
- Filla-foam dispenser
- Mesh tape dispenser
- Fire extinguisher
- General
- Advanced Navigation Suite: The Navigator has a fairly solid astrogation buffer that holds 12 jump coordinates, making it comparable to the older R6-series. However, unlike most other astromech droids, the Navigator comes with a fairly advanced micro-processing module that cross-references with the droid sensorscope (and any starship sensors the droid has access to) and the stored coordinates in the astrogation buffer to act like a hyperspace compass. This allows the Navigator to reorient its location and suggest the most viable path forward, making it useful in instances where its ship might get "lost", especially if the starship is involved in scouting operations. Some owners use this ability to help chart hyperlanes of their own but combining this ability with the mass shadow safety cutoffs of a ship itself.
- Repair Suite: Like most astromech droids, the Navigator is a fairly skilled starship mechanic with an assortment of retractable tool arms and a technical manual package database with several hundred common vessels to provide it with guidance in performing starship repairs and maintenance. Taking cue from the classic Treadwell repair droids, these tool arms are all modular and easily swapped out for other tools if the owner so desires. Its automated repair upgrade package means that the droid can even swap them out themselves without any work by the owner. Naturally, this upgrade also means that the owner doesn't actually need to get involved with the maintenance of the droid if he doesn't want to either - making the droid relatively low maintenance.
- Knowledge Cartridge Input Slots: The "back pack" of the droid has a pair of slots into which knowledge cartridges can be easily inserted. This allows even non-tech savvy owners to quickly give their droids new skills or knowledge with very little time and work. Common knowledge cartridges include those that contain technical data packages for certain ships or certain military/cultural protocol packages to more easily embed them into those organizations. Skill cartridges vary a lot more widely depending on an owner's taste, but starship gunnery and slicing skill cartridges are among the most common.
- Co-pilot: Like most astromechs, the Navigator is a fairly adept co-pilot - capable of landing and taxiing the craft if necessary, providing navigational data, and optimizing system performance while in-flight. Unlike most astromechs, the Navigator can can actually help plot new routes through its unusual micro-processor subroutine.
- Mechanic: The Navigator has a fairly decent array of tools which combined with a database for fixing common systems, makes it fairly decent at providing in-flight repairs or performing common maintenance. Navigators are fairly adept at learning the specifics of most craft and systems with experience as well, which can be jump-started by using knowledge cartridges to gain specific knowledge.
- Survivalist: The Navigator was designed specifically in mind to work for military pilots and scouts in austere environments, and thus has some unusual features for an astromech. Aside from its ability to help chart new hyperroutes, it has the ability to largely repair itself damaged. The inclusion of a spark projector also gives it a limited ability to protect itself from threats, especially from animals and primitive societies, if need be.
WEAKNESSES
- Binary-only: Like most other astromechs, the L2 series only communicates back in binary by standard, making it difficult for them to communicate with the average person.
- Poor Combatant: L2s are not designed for direct combat and tend to do fairly poorly if pressed into such roles.
Astromech droids have become a common sight in the galaxy, whether in it's in the back of a starfighter or helping to repair a vessel in a hangar. Some such droids have become constant and sure companions for pilots and jedi, yet it took some time before Lucerne Labs had an interest in developing such a droid of their own. Admiral Quee's campaign in the Stygian Reaches changed this, where the harsh nebula and rough worlds showed the advantage of astromech-equipped starfighters over their non-equipped peers. But these rough environments took a toll on the classic R-series droids that the Directorate had been content to use up until then - causing the company to undertake a program to create an especially ruggedized astromech droid suited for use in the roughest parts of the galaxy.
The resulting L2 Navigator took a lot of cues from existing designs, combining the rough layout of the old T7-series with much of the capabilities of the newer R-series. But the Navigator has some features that are unique to it among astromech droids. The foremost of these is a unique navigational system that takes the sensor feed available to the droid and compares it with the existing navigational data in its astrogation buffer to reorient and help chart new routes. Other features include a self-repair upgrade as well as a knowledge cartridge slots - both of which are meant to make the owner's life easier from a maintenance and upgrade perspective in the rougher regions of the galaxy with little effort on the owner's part. The droid also has a spark projector and fairly durable alusteel chassis to make it more resistant to falling prey to sometimes overly curious wildlife or less than reputable 'bystanders'.
L2 Navigators were originally produced to supply the Directorate and allied organizations - where they frequently are found in the sockets of starfighters or in the droid bays of larger starships -, but they are becoming more common in the hands of independent operators and civilians. While the R-series still do tend to be cheaper than the Navigators, the L2s are gaining a good reputation among scouts and explorers for their ruggedness and navigational abilities.
