Commodore Helix
Disintegrations done dirt cheap.
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a heavy gunship/dropship droid for Helix Solutions
- Image Source: Owen Tidy
- Canon Link: HMP Droid Gunship
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: HMP Droid Gunship
- Manufacturer: Helix Solutions
- Affiliation: Helix Solutions
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: XK3 Dreadhawk
- Modularity: Yes
- Production: Limited
- Material: Durasteel, Quadanium, Impervium, droid components, weapon battery components
- Classification: Gunship
- Role: Gunship/Dropship
- Size: Very Large
- Weight: Very Heavy
- Armaments: High
- Turret-Mounted Heavy Dual Laser Cannons (2)
- Chin-Mounted Ironbreaker Railgun (1)
- Wing-Mounted Heavy Repeating Blasters (2)
- Body-Mounted Harbinger Multiple Rocket Launchers (14)
- Defenses: Very High
- Deflector Shielding
- Maneuverability Rating: High
- Speed Rating: Average
- Propulsion: Repulsorlife
- Minimum Crew: None
- Optimal Crew: None
- Passenger Capacity: 20 (any combination of B1H, H4X, KBK , or other roughly-human-statured droids) or 10 (B2H Droids) or 6 (B3H, B3S Droidekas)
- Cargo Capacity: Very Small
- Piloted by advanced droid brain
- Carrying racks can deploy large numbers of troops
- Bears an internal munitions feed for its railgun, alleviating ammunition issues
- Hard-Shelled Carrier: The Dreadhawk's primary purpose is rapid, on-the-go reinforcement, which it can do via built-in racks containing numerous folded-up infantry droids. It can carry nearly any infantry droid in Helix's arsenal, and in far greater numbers than its predecessor.
- Shredding Talons: The Dreadhawk can (and often will) hang around after dropping its passengers, hovering and dumping its considerable munitions complement onto anything that would threaten its charges.
- No Life Support: While the Dreadhawk is a capable carrier for droid troops, it bears no life support systems or internal stowage for organics, who must either be armored against vacuum when the vehicle deploys, or find another way to the surface.
- Low Cargo Capacity: While the Dreadhawk contains a small storage locker for a modest amount of weapons and ammunition, this is not its intended purpose, and troops needing supply drops must look elsewhere.
The Dreadhawk is Helix's squad-level combat dropship, deploying infantry to combat zones under fire. For this purpose, it bears a large number of internal racks for folded-up droids, and defenses to ensure few things can damage them. Created the withstand the worst of anti-air fire while it deposits its carried troops, the dreadhawk can shrug off most conventional weaponry with contemptuous ease, bearing very powerful deflector shielding and armor.
After depositing its cargo, the Dreadhawk serves very ably as an air support asset, hovering above and raining down death on the opposing forces. Able to hose down infantry with its laser cannons and repeating blasters, gut vehicles with its heavy railgun, or render large swathes of a given combat zone a blazing, radioactive wasteland with its rows of multiple rocket launchers, the Dreadhawk certainly lives up to its ominous name.
Typically, this droid gunship will follow after ground troops as long as needed, eradicating whatever stands between them and their objective, before flying off to reinforce or support other units. This vehicle is the lifeblood of Helix ground operations, along with the venerable and seemingly-irreplaceable C-9979, and so long as they remain operational, the army can draw on as many troops as needed to claim victory.
While official Helix doctrine advises against it, it has become somewhat common for the more reckless droids to mag-lock their feet to the top of the vehicle's flat, plate-like upper hull, and ride it directly into battle. This is particularly common for H4X droids, who as ever possess a weakness for showboating.
However, while it can fly in vacuum to bring troops from orbit if need be, the Dreadhawk is not a space combat vehicle, nor can it spare much in the way of cargo space with infantry racks taking up much of its weight capacity.
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