civil defense battleoid — Tech Blog

The civil defense battleoid is a classic design in the history of the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns. Dating back before the 1,000 Years war, it was a common sight on garrison duty, defending cities, and even on the outer hulls of space habitats and capitol ships. While many of its systems were upgraded, the basic design of the civil defense battleoid changed very little over the history of the empire.

Capabilities

The civil defense battleoid had two arms slung below the center of its body, these could be used to wield a number of different weapons and other equipment.

The "eye" at the front of its body housed both a searchlight and a powerful laser cannon.

The body housed a large deflector shield to supplement the battleoid's weaker than average armor.

The feet of the battleoid contained powerful electromagnets that allowed it to operate on the outer hulls of star-ships.

The civil defense battleoid was designed to be operated by a single pilot who entered and exited through a hatch on the under-side of the body directly behind the arms.

Spinoffs and variants

The design of the Convergence scout walker was based on the civil defense battleoid, with many of its systems being directly copied.

A picnic ruined by a Convergence Scout Walker

The Convergence scout walker is first and foremost a terror weapon, designed to strike fear into the hearts of those unlucky enough to encounter it. Deployed most heavily during the first and second Convergence wars, it was the harbinger and vanguard of the main battle forces of the Convergence.

Technically, the scout walker is a Battleoid, based on height (about 15 meters) and movement type (walker); however, it varies from most battleoids insofar that it is piloted by six Greys joined in a common mind. Typically, one pilot controls each of the main functions of the vehicle: the legs, the grabbers/ hands, the weaponry, communications, sensors, and navigation.

The control scheme of this vehicle does not lend itself to use by non-grey crews, although on rare occasions, captured scout-walkers have been retrofitted for use by non-grey pilots. This was typically used as an infiltration tactic, and for every successful attempt, there were a large number of failures.

Armament

The Convergence Scout Walker is typically armed with a large infrared laser ("heat ray") powerful enough to incinerate most organic targets instantly, and ignite most conventional inorganic targets. This weapon is generally used as a defensive measure, when the crew feels threatened.

Common secondary weapons are typically non-lethal, and include tractor-beams, sonic cannons, and pulsed photonic emitters. These are intended to instill panic and confusion in the walker's victims.

History

The Convergence scout walker was based on the design of the civil defense battleoid. When the Convergence broke away from the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, they took several civil defense battleoids with them, and many greys had experience with those machines from their time as scavengers and trash collectors in the empire.