Assault Drone Research

The assault drone is the largest of the aerial cyberdisks employed by the collective. They have been dubbed "cyberdisks" by the men and women researching them because they are not truly autonomous, and require a neural link to a biological pilot.

Specs

Speed: 80 kph (MA 20 in combat)
SDC: 40
Armor: 10 SP
Weapons: Heavy stunner,
Sensors: Basic optics suite
Maneuver: +0 to Drone Pilot checks
Autopilot: 10 base roll

Construction Details

The Assault drone does not contain its own power source. It receives power through transmission from an external source. This significantly reduces their size and weight. The outer shell is a sturdy layer of alien alloy, providing 10 SP of armor protection, resistant to most light small arms like pistols. These units are more sturdy than the unarmored scout drones, so maneuverability is not so much of a concern. Sustained small arms fire or heavy weapons fire still poses a threat, however with a more robust chassis, having the unit fall back before taking critical damage is more of a real possibility.

Component Specifications

The drone flies using what is being called a "repulsor drive." Under power, it appears to provide lift in the presence of a spatial gravity well. By modulating output, the strength of the repulsion effect can be controlled. By oscillating frequency (essentially rapidly turning the field on and off), thrust can be controlled. This, in effect, gives control over acceleration and altitude, as the repulsor field only works on one axis. Multiple repulsors (one primary "thrust" repulsor and several smaller "vernier" repulsors) are used in conjunction for forward flight and maneuvers. This means that the drones do actually have a "front." Because of the assault drones larger size and weight, it is not as maneuverable as the scout drone, gaining no inherent maneuver bonus.

The assault drone's only has a basic optical suite. The alien alloy of the hull itself is transparent to the sensors, allowing them to see through it without being exposed. Additionally, the sensors can spin around the inner edge of the disk to provide a 360-degree view around it. The optical suite can see in multiple spectra. Besides normal visible light, it can see in IR, false-color thermograph and low-light.

The assault drone's autopilot unit is not very agile, providing a base roll of 10 for maneuvers and defense rolls. The native programming is rather bare-bones, however, and can be upgraded by a skilled programmer to boost a unit's autopilot and maneuver rating. Like fine-tuning a race car, however, these adjustments must be made to individual units; programming adjustments cannot be uploaded to multiple units. A programmer can try to make one upgrade on one drone per game session (or between game sessions). With a roll of 20+, the unit gains a +1 maneuver/autopilot bonus. With a roll of 25+ it gains a +2 bonus. With a roll of 30+, the programmer manages to perfect its programming, giving it the maximum bonus of +3. However, bad luck or poor skills can be detrimental; if the roll is then or less, the programming is bugged, and one maneuver/autopilot point is lost. If the programmer rolls a critical failure of 0 or less, he or she has managed to completely corrupt the programming, and the unit is rendered inoperable until the base programming can be re-initialized (requiring a programming check at 15+ during a subsequent game session). Likewise, the targeting system can be improved to a maximum of +3.

The assault drone also has mundane extras that aid in telepresence; it has audio pickups (microphones) that grant the pilot binaural hearing from the drone's location, and it also has speakers that allow the pilot to speak through the drone.

Weapons Loadout

Heavy Stunner
WA +2
DMG 1d6
ROF 2
MAG ∞
RNG 5m
Special: Bypasses unsealed armors

Pulse Missiles
WA +0
DMG 8d10
ROF 1
MAG 2
RNG 400m
Special: 5m AoE, 1/2 damage out to 10m

Railgun
WA +1
DMG 5d10
ROF 1
MAG 6
RNG 200m
Special: 2d6 AoE within 3m of impact, causes explosion suppression (+3)

Dual Needler
WA shotgun/+3
DMG 4d6/1d6
ROF 1/2/30/60
MAG 3 each
RNG 40m
Special: Shotgun/Autofire, suppressed, Blade AP, can fire coaxially

The heavy stunner is an electric weapon similar in effect to a taser. Because of its wide arc, it gains a substantial bonus to accuracy.
The Pulse missile is an explosive energy weapon. It is a dumb-fire weapon (unguided), but has a significant blast radius.
The Railgun uses electromagnetic force to accelerate a solid slug to hypersonic velocities. The kinetic energy on impact can create a significant blast in a small radius.
The dual needler uses lower-powered railgun technology to fire small flechettes. The ammo canisters are about the size of a D-cell battery. The weapons are silent, and the projectiles are sharp, allowing them to penetrate light armor or cover. The weapons can fire in stream mode (autofire) or shotgun mode. If fired in shotgun mode, the weapon gains the shotgun WA bonuses (+2/+4/+6) and damage is reduced by range category (4d6/3d6/2d6). The dual needlers can fire coaxially, allowing both weapons to fire simultaneously at the same target using the same attack roll.

All weapons except the stunner are carried in bays within the hull. When not in use, the harpoints can be retracted and the bays closed.

Drone Repair

Stage 1 research allows damaged drones to be repaired. Each point of SDC (structural damage capacity, the "hit points" of vehicles and objects) will require a skilled tech one hour to repair with a difficulty 15+ skill check to initiate repairs. Severely damaged units (half SDC or less) will require a skill check of 20+. Any repair attempt (even failures) takes a minimum of one hour. Because of their enhanced structure, heavily damaged assault drones can be time-consuming to repair.

Drone Construction

Constructing new drones requires the following research be completed: Alien Alloys, Power Systems, Principles of Nanotechnology, Power Transmission, Repulsor Drive, Alien Weapon: Stunner, Pulse weapons, Coilgun, Needler and Neural Interface Helmet. Construction of each scout drone uses 4 units of alloy, two repulsors and two stunners, two needlers, and one railgun. Fortunately, without an internal power source, new units can tap into an existing power source, and do not require the ability to create an Elerium-based reactor.

There is a small amount additional space inside the hull, likely for other possible upgrades. If this is the case, though, the drones from Draco's ship were not equipped with these.