Alperian Overlord-System Drones

==TacticaMotor Combat Frame Line ==

UFP-58B Tracker Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous tactical combat frame Weight: 5.2 tons Height: 14.1 feet Speed: 67 mph running Locomotion: 2 reverse-jointed legs Drive type: Synthetic electro-reactive polymer muscle bundles supplemented by hydraulics Power source: Microfusion cell arrays Armament: --2x 30mm BTI-63E rotary gauss autocannons w/ telescoping muzzle breaks/claws --1x 10.1mm medium machine gun --1x 6-round TUA8 anti-armor missile pod --1x 80mm defensive mortar Description: The center of the Alperian kill-team may be the PCAS-238 but the Tracker plays a close second and it's rare to find a fully-loaded kill-team without atleast 1 or 2 Trackers assigned to each wetware platform. A perfect blend of armor, firepower and armor; the Tracker can easily keep pace with the PCAS-238 and other drones in all manner of terrain and lay down a withering barrage of shells. Running a copy of the "Overlord SI-system" developed by Paragon Peripherals for PCAS-linked drone teams; the Tracker is operated by an advanced military-grade static intelligence, class-C; that is more than capable of using somewhat inventive and surprisingly brilliant tactics and their renown as “dumb machines” is regarded as ill-deserved by most Alperian robotics techs (the Overlord system is also optimized for combatant-identification, and with most platform's onboard suites and psychophysiological scanners can easly identify hostiles or aggressors from non-enemies, often better than any organic soldier). While sticking strictly to basic concepts of battlefield maneuvers, the Overlord system uses shared-process networking with its command-unit and fragments of the wetware platform’s own creativity and sapience; allowing it to be downright cruel in its planning capacities. The SI installed in the Trackers are known for utilitarian techniques that make use of the other drones in a wetware platform’s complement, performing feints, trapping maneuvers and attempting to encircle and destroy an enemy utterly; the bestial intelligence driving them diverted from the command-unit’s cruelty and anger. Possessing a wide breath of weaponry, the Tracker is an adept multi-purpose drone and is often considered their wetware-platform’s “NCO” (atleast in the eyes of Alperia’s allies); operating as the “brain” of mission-independent drone forces.

UFP-265A Hunter Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous tactical combat frame Weight: 12.2 tons Height: 15 feet Speed: 53 mph running Locomotion: 2 double-jointed legs Drive type: Synthetic electro-reactive polymer muscle bundles supplemented by hydraulics Power source: Microfusion cell arrays Armament: --1x 35mm GSS-63E rotary gauss autocannon --1x 80mm M117 HV gauss cannon --1x 3-round BGT-18 multi-purpose missile pod --1x 8-round TUA8 anti-armor missile pod --1x 10.1mm M223 minigun (coaxial to upper torso) --1x 80mm defensive mortars Description: As the success of the Tracker brought the demand for more unmanned fire support platforms, the TacticaMotor Corporation; inventors of the original Tracker went back to the drawing board and developed a much heavier model, one suited to heavier work than the Tracker. While not much taller than its predecessor, the Hunter is considerably broader, more heavily armored and armed with a wider array of weapons. The driving-SI of the Hunters are designed to take hints from their command unit’s will to defend their fellow soldiers; as such Hunters are known for their defensive style of combat; operating near the rear of a firefight and hammering enemies from arm’s length with their fully battery of weaponry; the Hunters are the heavy fire support of the “Quad Infantry” (the nickname for the 4 heavy, legged UFP platforms built by TacticaMotor) but also act as a shield-wall in dire circumstances. Many tales have been hold by Warpian or Gridiron infantry who were saved by a Hunter standing in the way of an oncoming tank, or one diving in the way of a missile to protect another unmanned platform heedless of enemy fire. Oftentimes the Hunter’s survive this bravado due to their armor and decentralized systems, and many allied infantry have come to take an interesting view on the drones bordering on camaraderie, assigning them nicknames and personalities if in extended conflict alongside a particular Alperian kill-team.

UFP-41A Pursuer Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous tactical combat frame Weight: 7.1 tons Height: 17.6 feet Speed: 98 mph running Locomotion: 2 reverse-jointed legs Drive type: Synthetic electro-reactive polymer muscle bundles supplemented by hydraulics Power source: Microfusion cell arrays Armament: --1x 6-tube 90mm rocket pod --2x Mk. 21 55mm burst-fire gauss cannons --1x Chin-mounted Hellfire napalm flamethrower turret --1x 80mm defensive mortar Description: If the Tracker is anger and leadership, and the Hunter represents willpower; the Pursuer definitely represents their commander’s guile and intelligence. The Pursuer is intended to do what its name suggests, using its incredible speed to wind through the urban jungle; “hunting” enemies, acting as scouts and rearguard for their kill-team. The Pursuer is renown as among the most advanced applications of the Overlord SI; Pursuers seem to possess an almost inhuman cunning, and are often found “toying” with isolated squads of infantry, appearing and reappearing at random; picking off isolated elements and attempting to drive them into the more heavy-armed jaws of the kill-team’s remainder. To accommodate their style of warfare; the Pursuers have a full-coating of the CBOOC and can take to the surrounding almost perfectly on almost all spectrum bands when running low-power, even teams armed with thermal optics may only see splotches of heat where the Pursuer’s ground-directed radiators dispersed heat and oftentimes these footprints are used to further the drone’s goal of trapping and exterminating an enemy force. The armament on the Pursuer is optimized for quick engagements against light vehicles and infantry; their flamethrower is often used for distraction or to generate a screen to retreat behind as well as an offensive weapon, and their gauss cannons are often loaded with armor-piercing flechette-shot that can punch through most body armors and soft-skinned vehicles. A tactical terror-weapon of high order, the Pursuer is very popular among kill-teams specializing in deep-territory raids and attacking/defending the flanks of a main attack force.

UFP-393A Cerberus Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous tactical combat frame Weight: 15.31 tons Height: 17.2 feet Speed: 50 mph running Locomotion: 2 double-jointed legs Drive type: Synthetic electro-reactive polymer muscle bundles supplemented by hydraulics Power source: Miniaturized fusion reactor Armament: --2x F-13 light plasma-based laser cannons --1x F-22 heavy plasma-based laser cannon --2x HISW-L gunpods Description: Currently the last in the UFP series from TacticaMotor, the Cerberus is the heaviest, most well-armored and well-armed version yet. Designed to mount exclusively energy weapons, the Cerberus is a dedicated-anti-armor support platform and can destroy armor several times its weight with relative ease. By far the most expensive variant, requiring an expensive miniaturized reactor, it is nonetheless one of the most favored for its impressive firepower and has been compared to a cheaper, unmanned Jormungand battlesuit. The Cerberus takes hints from the command-unit’s overwhelming desire to crush the enemy and are powerful assault units that will rush to engage enemy armor or crush infantry beneath their feet.

Fire Support Drones
VQ-1 Punisher Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous gun platform Height: 5.2 feet (in “compact” mode) Diameter: 4.8 feet (in “compact” mode) Top speed: 113 mph Locomotion: 1x HGU-77 high-spread vectored pulse engine Power source: Microfusion cell arrays Armament: --2x AII-303H rotary gauss guns on independently-rotating armatures --1x KM-76 battle rifle on an independently-rotating armature --50x 31mm micro-missile tubes Description: The Punisher is a flying ammunition cylinder propelled by a high-spread pulse engine and feeding a trio of heavy guns. The punisher is yet another in the long line of Alperian combat drones to use the Overlord SI system, and does so driven by its wetware-platform’s spite toward the enemy. The drone is designed for “heavy reconnaissance” into areas the PCAS may not be able to reach, but are too heavily defended for lightweight UCAVs such as the Q-8b. It also serves as a high-mobility fire-support platform, where the multiple independent guns dangling from it can engage several targets simultaneously and mulch any infantry it can see. The VQ-1 is heavier than most UCAVs in the Overlord system, but as a hovering gun platform it has unmatched versatility and maneuverability and is therefore naturally used for hint-and-run attacks alongside any Pursuer drones to harass and cripple enemy forces. While heavily armed, the Punisher is lightly armored, both to keep it mobile and to allow room for the micro-missile launchers, as such it rarely stays still for any length of time and have been called “twitchy” due to their constant movement; however their SI coordinates firing and movement between pauses in gunfire and the sighting of enemy weapons, assuring that the enemy has no bead while the drone itself maintains perfect accuracy.

Heavy Attack Drones
U/MT-B Roach Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous medium armored fighting vehicle Weight: 47 tons Height: 7 feet Length: 20.1 feet Width: 7.3 feet Top speed: 87 mph Locomotion: 2 treads Power source: Miniaturized fusion reactor Armament: --1x 120mm M39 high-velocity gauss cannon --2x 6-salvo internally-fed 90mm missile pods --2x 80mm defensive mortars --1x coaxial HISW-L Description: The heaviest platform running an Overlord SI, the Roach is more or less a miniature tank designed to provide unrivaled firepower and armor for a kill-team. The removal of a crew compartment and necessary life-support allows the Roach to possess an oversized reactor, impressive armor and huge amounts of ammunition for its size. With a Roach or several in a kill-team, it transforms from a quick strike-team into a heavy line-breaking force, in which the Roaches act as the primary source of firepower; the PCAS’ and other drones providing support fire, an odd change of role for most operators. Roaches are designed to be vanguards, especially in urban combat; where their more combat frame and shorter-barreled cannon allows them to outperform and outmaneuver contemporary tanks, while their missile launchers and plentiful point-defense systems allow them to be effective against infantry and aircraft as well as assisting kill-teams in defense against anti-armor attacks. Combat protocols for the Roach are balanced and it’s rare to see one destroyed fully even outside direct control due to their large processing banks and ability to quickly analize a situation; playing aggressive but using their armor where it counts. Despite the Overlord system making the Roach ideal for PCAS-linked teams, it is large enough and heavily equipped enough to operate on its own and it’s common to see independent squadrons of Roaches acting as a bodyguard force for APCs and other, more-vulnerable ground vehicles. In this role its armor is less notable (due to often engaging heavier forces) but its speed and accuracy often keep the Roach far ahead of the curve.

Infiltration and Room Clearing Drones
CCH-1b Lurker Classification: Fully-autonomous, infiltration and clearance drone Weight:  410 lbs Length: 7.2 feet Speed: 35 mph on land, 6.2 knots swimming Locomotion: 30 multi-jointed, clawed legs Drive type: Synthetic electro-reactive polymer muscle bundles between segments, electric micromotors on legs Power source: High-power Ion cells Armament: --1x 10.1mm rifle --2x 5.7mm flectette packs --“Net-spinner” ports --Assorted cutting blades Description: The bane of enemies believing themselves safe in cover or among hostages, the Lurker is a medium-sized insect-like attack drone (driven by the Overlord SI) designed to work in concert alongside the UG-1 Stinger in clearing buildings. The CCH-1 is a long, but narrow segmented drone with an oblong cross-section covered in cruel, hooked legs shaped into sharp cutting blades, consisting of 15 main segments plus two “head” and two “tail” segments and is said to resemble a grossly oversized centipede; which is an unnerving psychological weapon on its own. The Lurker takes hints from the Pursuer drone; it is a hunter, designed to terrify, separate and slaughter an enemy squad holed up in an important building that (for whatever reason) cannot be demolished right-out, often because of hostages or nearby civilians. The drone can scale a building’s walls and enter though a roof’s ventilation system, snaking through ducts and attacking with silent flechette rounds from the shadows before opening up with a burst-firing battle rifle, or can enter via a sewer system (as the drone is quite capable of swimming via undulating and using its fin-like tail-blade) and infiltrate a building through something as simple as a toilet.

The drone is infamous for the creepy, metallic skittering noise it makes while moving, which can set defenders on edge or cause them to panic; the Lurker is also programmed to make us of various tones of mechanical shrieking noises which can only be described as “horrific” that it will play when out of sight or about to attack, further breaking enemy morale. Highly flexible and possessing uncanny maneuverability; the Lurker will often make use of a UG-1s more high-profile entrance into a building to draw-out and isolate targets; and was given a number of silent weapons to accomplish this; the “head” of the drone can open up a ghastly maw filled with small rotating blades and chainsaws used to attack and dispose of corpses, or it can use its razor-sharp (and often toxin-coated) legs to claw a target open, cut through bone and doors alike with its powerful tail-cleaver, or use its mix of ranged weapons to neutralize targets from afar. The Lurker also has options for non-lethal takedowns, it easily capable of restraining a target with its own body (or crushing the life out of them) and then spinning a spider silk webbing to encase them, extruding the silk-like substance through ports on their underside and “weaving” it using the legs. One downside to the drone is that it had to sacrifice some speed for its flexibility and protective armor and therefore often has to latch to a larger platform for transport over long-distances but in the context of assaulting a building the thing can move with terrifying swiftness and power, leaving its prey a ball of nerves and soon-to-be-eviscerated organs.

Support Drones
MCRV-1 Swordbearer Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous munitions and combat recharge vehicle Height: 6 feet Length: 7.4 feet Top Speed: 120 mph Movement: 8 wheels Armor: classified Armament: AII-303H Widow rotary gauss gun Description: While not anywhere near as “intelligent” as the UFP-series (just designed to follow a squad and stay out of trouble), the Swordbearer performs a key role unrivaled by any combat drone, resupply. Boxy and ugly, the Swordbearer is a tubby abomination of a drone, tagging along behind kill-teams, it allows teams sent on long-endurance missions to act independent of supply lines or support. Most of the internal space is taken up by a projectile munitions storage bay and a battery of tool-tipped arms allowing for the quick delivery of ammo. Due to the compartmentalized and hard-to-access nature of the PCAS’ storage bays, these machines are essential for long-endurance or high-intensity missions where even the huge ammo hoppers on the PCAS may become depleted. While the PCAS suits and most battlesuits are known for limited self-repair systems, they cannot restore a crippled battlesuit to fighting shape, however with the assistance of a “Warsmith” drone, the Swordbearer can via their utility arms, a small nanofabber and compartments for spare parts and armor modules. In addition, the MCRV has the ability to replace the microfusion cells on the PCAS and most drones, increasing combat endurance into several consecutive days. For self-defense and to provide a measure of fire support the MCRV has a turreted Widow minigun attached to its top with its own independent fire control are target selection system.

DRO-5 Warsmith Classification: Unmanned, fully-autonomous repair and demolitions drone Weight:  1,706 lbs (unloaded) Height: 6.3 feet Speed: 62 mph Locomotion: 2 caterpillar tracks Power source: Microfusion cell arrays Armament: N/A Description: The DRO-5 Warsmith is one of the most recent additions to the Overlord system and was designed to explicitly work in kill-teams that possess a Swordbearer munitions drone and only rarely without one. The Warsmith plays right into its name and is a descendent of centuries-old bomb-disposal robots and combat-engineers, this due to the PCAS-238’s value leaving very little room for actual “wetware” combat engineers outside of armored battalions and rear-echelon construction jobs. Despite this, the Warsmith, much like the Swordbearer is often slaved to the squad’s electronic/cyber-warfare and support platform, which usually boasts upgraded communications, onboard computer suites and long-ranged weaponry. These “support platforms” are often operated by the most technically inclined synths as they have the greatest natural inclination to repair and demolitions work.

The Warsmith is a lightweight drone by ground-standards but is heavily armored if lacking is official armament, this is because the drones have all the danger of combat medics without the international laws protecting them; they must be able to survive rushing a field of heavily-armed enemy combatants to repair a damaged combat drone, or mount a charge on barricade…or cut the tracks of an unaware tank. The defining feature of the Warsmith is its dozens of arms, each one suited to different types of work, some are massive hydraulic arms that can pick up even a Hunter drone (after extending stabilizers) or crush a car, others are very fine manipulators tipped with monofilament cutters, and yet others are metallic tentacles that can snake inside of a damaged machine to repair internal systems. The point of the Warsmith is that with a Swordbearer giving it access to raw materials and explosive weapons, it can perform just about any combat engineering role (especially when with an independent drone-team) such as knocking over buildings, disarming explosives, disabling enemy armor, creating barricades and performing repairs on other drones and battlesuits. The last is among the most important roles; while the PCAS and many drones possess amorphous internal electronics, multi-state armor or memory-materials for self-repair; they cannot spring back from extreme damage. It is the Warsmith’s job to make sure they can and Alperia’s emphasis on speed in its military means that a kill-team cannot afford to drag a damaged comrade back to base unless a heavy-lift dropship is nearby, nor can the unit be left to fend on its own. To this end the Warsmith has access to a massive database and a hardened link to one of the military AIs, small problems can be fixed with its intuitive algorithms, but larger ones will require direct override from an AI or wetware engineer, meaning that no small-scale engineering problem is outside a Warsmith’s ability to solve.