ᴏɴᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴢᴇʀᴏᴇꜱ
Pictured Above: Three examples of SYM unit variations.
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a terrifying new model of assassin droid that stalk its prey and opt for enhanced melee combat.
- Image Source: x x x
- Canon Link: n/a
- Permissions: n/a
- Primary Source: n/a
- Manufacturer: Holowan Mechanicals
- Affiliation: Holowan Mechanicals
- Market Status: Open-Market
- Model: SYM-series assassin droid
- Modularity: Yes, body parts may be switched and swapped, in addition to attachments such as:
- Sensor suites
- Handheld weapons
- Shoulder weapons
- Gauntlet/wrist mounted weapons
- Energy shields
- Note: It is not possible for SYM-series droids to remove the programming that prohibits the destruction and/or interaction of their source code.
- Production: Minor
- Material:
- Durasteel
- Titanium
- Synthflesh
- Droid components
- Classification: Fourth Degree
- Weight: Average
- Height: Large (203 cm)
- Movement: Bipedal
- Armaments:
- Daggers
- Built-In Concussion Grenades
- Misc. Equipment:
- Advanced photoreceptors
- Scomp link
- Sonic stunner
- Paralysis cord
- Broadband antenna
- Resistances:
- Energy & Blaster: Very High
- Kinetic: Average
- Lightsabers: Average
- EMP/ION: Low
- Sonic: Low
- Elemental: High
- Chitter-Chatter. SYM units, by default, speak in Galactic Basic. They're fluent in binary, and have access to a multitude of other languages, but are no where near as knowledgeable as protocol droids on the matter.
- Tenacious. SYM-series droids never back down from their kill, and will purse all targets until either the SYM or the target is eliminated. All SYM units are pre-installed with this mindset by default, and possess an almost stubborn mentality in which they refuse to give up.
- Source Code. The central processor of a SYM unit is backed up via its source code, meaning that a SYM can 'return' to its source upon the destruction of its body, retaining all thoughts, memories and personality, and can later be reuploaded with ease if the owner of said source code is capable of constructing additional bodies for it. While this is technically true of all droids, it means SYMs in specific are capable of coming back, again and again, making them a truly terrifying enemy to make.
- Stalker - SYM units, despite their bulky chests and imposing stature, have quite lanky limbs, lending to their stealth. SYMs are capable of walking incredibly quickly while crouched, and have the ability to scale buildings without struggle. Not only does this make them silent killers, their perseverance makes them incredibly difficult enemies to shrug off and escape.
- Silence - With a rechargeable stash of concussion grenades built inside their arms, SYM units are able to bend their digits back to fling them whenever possible under record time, allowing them to slow their prey and close the distance between them and their target.
A SYM unit extending its fingers to catapult its grenade forward.
- Death Totem - If a SYM's body is destroyed, it is still backed up inside of its source code, meaning that, unless its source code is destroyed, a SYM unit is never truly dead.
- Killing Machine - As mentioned prior, a SYM's digits are capable of manipulating their digits. This lends to their primary attack method: shaping their fingers together to form an incredibly sharp dagger. With cold precision, SYM units go in for the kill, analysing its target's weak spot. These droids don't linger or torture, they end their prey with one swift motion if possible, whether that be through fatal penetrations or neck snapping. In addition to its extendable digits, SYM-series droids have a chassis naturally resistance to blaster fire. This allows them to shrug off incoming fire, and is designed to force its opponent within melee distance... where SYM units shine the most.
- Stubborn - A double-bladed sword of their perseverance. While their refusal to give up on a kill makes them deadly assassins, it also entirely locks them down onto that specific task until it is completed. SYM units make for excellent bounty hunters, but their inability to multitask on multiple targets means a bounty being indefinitely denied until its current one is finished. If their target is particularly skilful, this hyperfocus can last for obscene amounts of time.
- Droid Poppers - A fierce combatant up-close, SYM units are forced to sacrifice a resistance to supersonic and EMP-focused attacks, and instead have exclusively focused on their melee oriented capabilities.
- All Strings Attached - SYM-series droids are connected to their source code, given to their purchaser. While this lets them keep returning beyond death, their source code is a physical object. Destroying the source code completely erradicates every last trace of its respective SYM units, meaning that any alternative back-ups, memory files or saves of it will be lost. The obliteration of a SYM's source code is its target's highest priority, as it ensures the complete destruction of not only the SYM unit, but every other chance of it ever returning.
- Symbiotic Relationship - An extension of the weakness above. A SYM's source code is contained by its purchaser, meaning the SYM unit is at their utter mercy if the purchaser decides to take advantage of it. This was purposefully designed to keep SYM units from stepping out of bounds. On the occasion that a SYM's body is destroyed, the owner may be generous enough to salvage it for repairs, or construct a new one entirely - however, they are also completely capable of uploading their unit's backed-up memory files inside the body of a different droid. This, effectively, could lead to trapping a SYM unit inside an astromech, protocol or even MSE-series droid, whatever the owner wishes.
- No Bypassing - Every last SYM-series droid is unable to destroy its own source code. This is not something that can be bypassed via modifications, reprogramming, or attachments. A SYM unit is incapable of killing itself, making it helpless if it falls into enemy hands. The 'rebirthing' of a SYM after its source code is re-uploaded is excruciatingly painful for it, and as such it isn't uncommon for SYM-series droids to develop nihilistic, depressive and downright even suicidal personalities due to its curse of immortality and subsequent inability to end its own life.
Holowan Mechanicals, a division of Holowan, whose famed IG-series assassin droids earned them a popular (if controversial) name among the galaxy, sought to create its next line in droid technology. Using their newfound status, Holowan Mechanicals (with sister division Holowan Laboratories) intended on deviating from the IG-series, aiming for a more subservient, forcefully loyal droid to remedythe several instances of rogue IGs.
Development of these droids were costly, due to their hardwired connection to their physical source codes. The source code of these newer units would be used as a way to keep recycling them while simultaneously keeping them obedient to their masters, as the destruction of their source code meant an immediate death for its linked droid. While the IG-series were heavily reliant on firearms, their successors would take inspiration from Clone War-era BX-series droid commandos; a more melee-focused, nimble and stalking assassin, as opposed to a gunslinging sociopath.
These droids would be become SYM units.
Merciless, determined and ruthless killers, with admittedly weaker artillery than their predecessors, SYM units made up for it with their controllable behavior and regulated actions via their source code. Their high expense prevented them from being mass-produced, and currently only a handful of lines have been manufactured.
Like the IG-series before it, however, the SYM-series was not without controversy. Reportings of rebelling SYMs against their owners had emerged, murdering them in cold blood before guarding their own source code with newfound free will.
Newer waves of SYM units were programmed to quickly remedy this - not only were they prohibited from destroying their own source code, but they were prohibited from even so much as touching it. This pushed obedience onto the newer models even further, but the damage had already been done.
Stories of rogue, owner-less SYMs are plentiful. Of silent killers taking after the IGs' footsteps and becoming their own masters. The stories are true. There are a select few SYMs, the first and only of their kind, wandering the galaxy.
And you better hope you don't cross paths with one.
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