HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create an automated drone for anti-armor and artillery bombardment
- Image Source: DeviantArt Spinnin Storm Spider by Hamsta180, link here
- Canon Link: Mass Driver Cannon,
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Rotary Cannon-2, Abregado Combat Shield
- Manufacturer: Metal Lords, Abregado Guild of Hammers
- Model: Mechanized Autonomous Combat Unit - Spider Cannon Drone
- Affiliation: Metal Lords, ARGH, Closed-Market
- Modularity: N/A
- Production: Limited
- Material: Duranium Skeleton and internal hull, Duranium Armored Plates, Durasteel Body Plates and Components, Electrum Internal Components, Asbestos Insulation Layer, Inner Copper Farraday Cage, Internal Duranium Protection Capsules
- Classification:: Tank Destroyer/Self Propelled Artillery
- Role: Tank Destroyer/Artillery
- Size: ~5 meters tall
- Weight: ~900 kilograms
- Minimum Crew: N/A Automated
- Optimal Crew: N/A Automated
- Propulsion: Quadrupedal
- Speed: Very Low
- Maneuverability: Very Low
- Armaments: Extreme Main Mass Driver Cannon, 2x Side RC-2 Turrets
- Defenses: Very High Duranium Armor Plates, Abregado Combat Shield
- Squadron Count: 3
- Passenger Capacity: N/A
- Cargo Capacity: Small Cargo Space, enough to carry required ammunition
- Abregado Combat Shields- Vehicle variant of Abregado Combat Shield, able to take up to six anti-vehicle energy shots based on their intensity, deflect or slow down up to three physical anti-vehicle shots, and protect from electrical, ionic, and a single electromagnetic pulse attack.
- Built-In Communication Systems- Built in short and long range communications systems that allow the drones to exchange data with each other and their commanders almost instantly, also giving them capacity to speak with HK's voice, send text messages, voice recordings, and holo transmissions.
- Sensors and Trackers- Standard package of vehicle grade sensors and trackers to monitor how much weight the drone carries, its current speed, and cycle vision through heat, infrared, and standard as well as augmenting their aim with advanced tracking protocols.
- Armor Plates- Thick duranium tank-grade plates sitting on a strong duranium skeleton offer plenty of protection to the drone, and the ammunition it carries. The armor can even resist lightsabers to a degree, the weapons will still cut and pierce through it, but do so slowly due to its thickness and density. These plates are thicker and wider on its front limbs and around its barrel, creating cover for soldiers to hide behind.
- Droid Brain- Instead of a crew the drone is mechanized, giving it slightly better reaction than a crew would have as all of its systems are being coordinated at the same time.
- Internal Coolants- internal cooling systems that minimize damage from overheating, whether caused by malfunction or technical issues, environmental damage for example heat from a lava planet's surface, or enemy fire based attacks like flamethrowers.
- Kill Switch, Tracking, and Self-Destruction- means of keeping the drones under control, a tracker to keep position of every drone connected to the same commander or command unit, kill switch to remotely deactivate it, and a self-destruction feature in case the machine is captured while still activated. Self-destruction overloads its power units, quickly turning them critical and causing an energy-based explosion, this explosion melts and disintegrates most of the droid's components, leaving behind only scorched metal husk of its skeleton and outer armor plates as well as damaging beings around it similar to a standard tank reactor exploding.
- Vacuum Sealed- The vital systems of the drone, its droid brain, memory core, processing center, et cetera, have been vacuum sealed within its inner structure, as a result the machine does not receive damage from liquids seeping inside and affecting these systems, for example submerging into water, rain, or napalm.
- Farraday Cage- a copper based defense against electrical and ionic attacks, however due to being built into walls of inner droid structure it only covers vital inner systems like memory core, power units, processing center, et cetera, the muscles and rotors of the droid can still be affected should other protections against such attacks fail.
- Underbelly Ammunition Holder- There are also cargo container units on the drone's underbelly, this is where its ammunition is stored and automatically loaded into its guns, usually protecting it from enemy attacks until one is able to either overturn or directly attack that part of the drone.
- Advanced Mass Driver- the main gun of these drones is an advanced mass driver, augmented with the expertise of ARGH droids and designers gained from many electromagnetic and rail-gun based weaponry. As such these guns are much more potent than standard mass drivers, able to rather easily take down most targets bigger than these drones, such as AT-ATs and other heavily armored walkers. Although usually fired directly these guns can fire at angles to be used as artillery, their power output could be also manipulated and turned down to put more angle into their shots and cover a bigger variety of firing distance.
- Strong Defenses- the drone artillery is outfitted with tough thick vehicle grade duranium armor sitting on durable duranium skeleton, corresponding to armor of heavy tanks and walkers these plates and skeleton can withstand heavy fire such as tank rounds, turbolaser, anti-vehicle shots, and even lightsabers to a certain degree. While a lightsaber can cut or pierce through it eventually, it would do so slowly much like cutting through a thick door. On top of that they could be outfitted with additional layer of protection by having Abregado Combat Shields and other minor protections from the fact that they are vacuum sealed and equipped with internal coolants and a Faraday cage.
- Side Turrets- While the drone's maneuverability is lacking and it cannot track quickly moving nearby targets with its main gun properly, it has been equipped with two Rotary Cannon swiveling turrets on the side of its body. These turrets are used to automatically track nearing hostile targets and open fire on them, in an attempt to quickly destroy them before they close in on the drone. These guns can also be used to support nearby infantry and act as a gun platform at closer range.
- Variable Ammunition- Due to using Shattergun-based loading systems the mass driver used by these drones can fire either normal solid slug projectiles, which deal purely kinetic damage and excel at piercing armor plates, or explosive plasma-based shells, which do not penetrate armor as well but deal explosive damage over wider area, making them more efficient at bombarding enemy infantry. The drones can also use specialized ammunition like canisters of gas.
- Low Speed and Maneuverability- To do its weight, size, and the heavy armored plates on its limbs, these artillery drones are very slow and not very maneuverable. As such they rely on being deployed into the combat zone via dropships into an optimal position or having the enemies come to them rather than to chase the enemy around.
- Drone- Like with other Metal Lord Drones there is a problem of low intelligence controlling the drone's systems, this has been improved slightly to not be as crippling but there are still those signature pauses before following through with next orders and commands. The drone has been programmed to acquire targets and engage as soon as targets marked as hostile enter its sensor range, immediately laying down direct fire and trying to prioritize striking larger or heavily armored targets first.
- Soft Underbelly- due to low maneuverability and the fact that its ammunition is stored within its underbelly, that is a very easy and vital target for enemies who would be able to sneak and close in on the drone to get below it. Should the drone be carrying explosive ammunition it will trigger an explosion, if it is using solid metal slugs they would simply spill out and it would cease to fire until repaired.
- Spotters- Due to its low intelligence and the range limitations of its scanners, these drones rely on additional more intelligent spotters to prioritize its targets for it and to improve its accuracy, although usually once coordinates are given these drones can make calculations for proper power output and firing angle rather quickly. Without spotters their range suffers and they will simply fire at the biggest hostile target in the area.
- Limited Electromagnetic Resistance- while the combat shields can absorb a single vehicle-sized electromagnetic pulse, making them more resistant to standard EMP grenades, after that further electromagnetic attacks can temporarily shut the drone down, causing it to stop firing and freeze in place.
Introduction: Throughout their military engagements, both ARGH and Metal Lords came to face off against many forces which used heavily armored units as well come to battle in open fields, one such example was taking part in fighting off the Incursion. However, since the fall of the Protectorate and the stream of resources and vehicles coming from the organization drying out ARGH has been cut off from access to much of their heavy hitting designs. There was still access to Firemane-made products but as both ARGH and Metal Lords placed emphasis on self-reliance a push was made to create new designs to fulfill their purposes. Spider Cannon Drones were born in this initiative, created to fulfill the need for self propelled artillery guns which could also be used as potent tank destroyers in order to deal with heavily armored enemy units.
History: The design of Spider Cannon Drones is based on a simple idea behind many ARGH designs- if we make long enough gun we can shoot anything through anything. As such, most of this spider drone's body consists of a large mass driver cannon attached to the main turret with its loading mechanisms in its innards and four stout large legs extending from its main body. The design is heavily reminiscent of the old heavy variants of Mobile Weapon Platforms, which was previously used as ARGH's main battle tank and artillery platform, except now with much bigger, longer mass driver cannon. Its armor plate layout is kept pretty much the same, using a better quality of duranium thick plates with the armored plates on legs and covering its main turret being much more thicker and wider, creating mobile cover for friendly soldiers to hide behind while accompanying the drone.
Special Features: The biggest special feature found inside these drones are the Abregado Combat Shields, a more or less standard feature that distinguished ARGH and Metal Lord designs from their competitive. These shields grant another considerable layer of protection when it comes to absorbing plasma-based weaponry or physical projectiles but it also absorbs large quantities of ionic and electrical energy, as well as limited amount of electromagnetic energy. Other protective special features include a Farraday cage, which protects its internal components from ionic or electrical attack even when Abregado Shield is deactivated, the inner components being vacuum sealed, preventing harmful liquids from seeping in and damaging them, and having internal cooling systems, to avoid overheating and allow these machines to perform better in lava-heavy conditions as well as withstand fire-based attacks. The rest of its special features, outside of special ammunition holders located within the underbelly of these drones, are standard drone components, which includes a droid brain for automation, build-in communication systems for communication with other drones and more intelligent commanders, sensors and trackers for acquiring hostile targets and tracking enemies closing in on them, and kill switches and self-destruction in order to deactivate the drone should it be sliced into and taken over by an enemy or just to avoid their capture.
Strengths: The biggest strength of these drones lies in their advanced mass drivers, born out of the latest designs from ARGH after years of working with shattergun technology, the guns of these drones allow them to pierce through much larger and heavily armored targets, such as heavy tanks and heavily armored walkers. Their guns can also fire a variety of ammunition, ranging from solid slugs fashioned specifically to pierce through thick armor plating of heavy tanks, walkers, or other vehicles, explosive plasma-based ammunition which is worse at penetrating armor but better at dealing with large groups of artillery, and more specialized ammunition like gas canisters. These mass drivers can also be adjusted in power and angle in order to cover a much bigger range of distances than most standard tank destroyers or field guns, acting as a self-propelled artillery as well. Another strength of these designs is their heavy duranium armor, able to withstand most turbolasers and physical projectiles in prolonged barrages, as well as lightsabers, simply because of the density and thickness of these strong large plates. This is further augmented by its Abregado Combat Shields. Finally, these drones have been equipped with two RC-2 swiveling turrets on the sides of its body, these quickly moving guns complement its less maneuverable mass driver and are better at dealing with lighter armored but faster enemy soldiers who could be attempting to flank these drones and get underneath them.
Weaknesses: The biggest weakness of these drones lacks in their lack of speed and maneuverability, the preferred method of combat with these designs is to drop them off to reinforce defensive positions or location from which they could have a good cover of the battlefield, letting them bombard the enemy from afar or have the enemy come to them. Otherwise having these drones chase an enemy would be a bad idea, their low maneuverability also makes them vulnerable to flanking, especially when they are left without support of faster units to deal with the closing in enemy. Flanking would be especially dangerous to these drones because of the fact that they store ammunition in their underbelly, should they use slugs the ammunition would only spill out and the drones would need to cease firing if their underbelly is damaged, however should they be using the explosive variants of their ammunition, they would detonate, destroying the rest of the drone in the process. Another weakness of these drones are their low intelligence, shared with other drones used by the Metal Lords and ARGH. Due to this lack of intelligence they depend on more intelligent commanders in order to properly direct their firing priorities and micro-manage these drones. They also need to rely on spotters to help them with aiming, especially groups of them to triangulate enemy positions or feed them exact coordinates so that the drones can calculate the exact power output and firing angle in order to hit the enemy. Finally the drones are still vulnerable to electromagnetic attacks, although their Combat Shields can absorb a single electromagnetic blast that would usually cripple a tank or a drone of that size, afterwards it would be left with nothing to protect itself.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the Spider Cannon Drones are little more but walking large mass drivers designed to act as artillery pieces and tank destroyers in order to deal with heavily armored walkers at range. What they have in thick armor and firepower they lack in low maneuverability and speed, acting better as artillery or defensive vehicles rather than being used for direct assault.
