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Junkers

Strangelove

Inactive Member
Junker Automated Utility Drone

"Disturbing a colony of Junkers is like disturbing a hornet's nest. But imagine these hornets have armor piercing rounds and thermonuclear detonators.

The Art of Never Again, Chapter 580: Little Drone, Little Drone

[Click here for visual reference]

About the Junker
The Junker is an all-purpose automated utility drone. Their cutting tools and manipulator arms make them adept at mining, salvage, manufacturing, repair, and countless other tasks. When needed they also make effective combat units, using their cutting tools to open a way for boarding parties or to plant bombs inside the enemy ships. They posess animal-like intelligence, instinctively attempting to reproduce (build more of their kind) or to feed (aquire spare parts from scrap yards or by destroying foreign ships). If a Junker is left in a scrap field and given sufficient time, it will eventually produce a colony and thousands of other drones.

History and Background
The Junker Utility Drone is the vehicular counterpart to the Automata. Like it's cousin, it acts as the backbone of the Saorstat Deoradh industry and economy. The Junker receives it's name from a creature in Freespacer lore called the Junkyard Dog, a mythical creature said to guard salvage sites and resource deposits of dirtdwellers. It's quadpedal movement, vicious 'fangs', preferred scrapyard habitat makes it a fitting name.

Statistical Information
Government: Saorstat Deoradh
Type: Multipurpose Drone
Designer and Manufacturer: None (Self-replicating)

Length: 0.5 m (without legs)
Width: 0.5 m
Height: 0.5 m
Mass: 7 tonnes

Range: Limited by local resources and regional permeability (see Systems)
Lifespan: Limited by local resources


Weapons Systems
Coherent Beam Laser: This system utilizes a solid beam of coherent laser light in order to weld or cut through various materials.

Location: Underbelly
Primary Purpose: Construction, Salvage
Secondary Purpose: Anti-starship
Damage: Heavy
Range: 1m
Rate of Fire: Constant
Payload: Unlimited


Bolt Driver: Another multi-purpose system, the bolt driver is an effective tool for holding armor plates in place during emergency repairs. It fires a rivet-like projectile using a coil gun. The Bolt Driver may also be fitted with armor piercing rounds making it an effective tank killer.

Location: Underbelly
Primary Purpose: Emergency starship repair
Secondary Purpose: Anti-tank, anti-armor
Damage: Moderate
Range: 1m
Rate of Fire: 1200 rounds a minute
Payload: 1000


Limbs: The legs and tentacles of the Junker are designed to operate in the hazardous conditions of space construction, and are therefore well built. The raw kinetic energy the legs are capable of producing make them effective as both stabbing and bashing weapons while the tools wielded by the tentacles make effective at puncturing.

Location: Various
Primary Purpose: Locomotion, Construction
Secondary Purpose: Anti-infantry
Damage: Moderate
Range: 1m
Rate of Fire: n/a
Payload: n/a


"Egg" Thermonuclear Detonators: Based on similar technology as their reactors, Junkers have the ability to produce bombs for self-defense. These are deployed in two ways; The first involves slingshotting the bomb like a grenade to attack from a range. The other is when a Junker cuts an opening in an enemy ship's hull, they often summon bomb carriers to deposit Eggs in the opening. The following explosions usually clear an opening large enough to allow the entire swarm to enter the ship, and tear it apart from the inside out.

Location: Internal Compartment
Primary Purpose: Hull Puncturing
Damage: Very High
Range: 1000m (thrown)
Rate of Fire: One every 5 seconds (thrown)
Payload: Carrier drones carry up to 5


Systems
Power -- Micro Nuclear Fission Reactor
A reactor scaled down for use in drones. Designed to run off of various fissile materials, depending on what is available.

Propulsion -- Monopolar Electromagnets
At the base of each limb is an electromagnet, which can carry a net magnetic charge depending on it's setting. Using a combination of magnetic attraction and repulsion a Junker can maneuver through areas containing permeable materials, such as along a ship's hull or through a junk field. A common tactic of Junkers is to capture a ship intact and use it to travel across zones without permeable materials in order to spread the colony.

Notes
First ship-- Well, not exactly ship, but first design submitted on behalf of the Saorstat Deoradh (Freespacers). A sort of semi-intelligent pseudo lifeform or 'artificial animal' designed to grow and thrive in space where resources are highly abundant. A possible workforce and even army if utilized correctly, maybe by using some kind of supercomputer (drone controller?).
 
Leutre, I generally like your submissions. They are very often of the tasteful, intelligent kind.

However, I've seen over self-replicating drone submissions around and those were generally frowned upon to the point of them not being approved. Is the self-replication a vital aspect of the design? Would you be willing to explain it at length to see if there are accpetable limitations or something to go in your favor?
 
My first impression: These are overpowered.
 
I've seen more dangerous mecha, Wes. This doesn't even come close to a Lamia or a mishhuvurthyar attack pod. Also, anyone can be dangerous if they carry around a thermonuclear bomb - the drone here is no exception (plus, I had the feeling those were optional).
 
I was planning on limiting them by their inability to process raw ore, maybe something pre-programmed into their code. This would prevent their numbers from becoming too overhwhelming (ie, grey goo effect), as there is only so much useable equipment floating in space. Such code could probably be explained by the Freespacer's fear that Junkers would completely strip mine a region and leave no materials for the Freespacers themselves. I was hoping this alone would be enough to reduce their 'overpoweredness.' (I have no idea if that's actually a word. Sue me.)

As for the detonators, I was thinking more along the lines of an oversized hand grenade than an actual full-scale starship weapon. After all, their primary use is to simply open a hole big enough for the drones to enter. It's not actually designed to cause significant damage to the ship, otherwise there would be no salvage.
 
Yeah, along those lines. Just for puncturing the hull, not for causing damage to the ship's systems. Sort of like a shaped charge explosive. Though obviously such powerful explosives could act as brute force weapons in a pinch.
 
Aside from the self-replicating function - to which I will not comment simply because I'm not well versed in the potential ill consequences this could have on game balance, the submission seems more than reasonable.

I'm inclined to recommend approval as things are presented.
 
Bleh, supporting approval is for weak fanfics. We real writers need more hateful criticism. We thrive on it, sort of like how goths and emos thrive on angst.

But in all seriousness, is it still overpowered Wes? Would you rather it be a generic mass produced drone instead of something that feeds off space trash? I thought the whole idea was pretty neat, myself. It would make for some interesting RP to have a Junker swarm to grow out of control by feeding on some old battlefield, and threaten a nearby star system. Or maybe to have a seed ship stray into someone's territory and terrorize an outlying colony or two. But I'll still change it if you think it's overpowered.
 
Leutre Veressis said:
Bleh, supporting approval is for weak fanfics. We real writers need more hateful criticism. We thrive on it, sort of like how goths and emos thrive on angst.

I resent that remark. Goths don't "thrive" on angst, although one must wonder about emos. Gothicism is about seeking truth and never taking someone else's word on how you believe life is. It's about ridding oneself of the fear of death, since it is a natural part of life. It's about so many things that non-goths are unable to ascertain.

Now that i'm off my soap box, if one cannot find a flaw in a piece of work, how is one to judge it badly? There is a difference between saying that a piece is good because you don't want to hurt someone's feelings, and saying a piece is good because...it actually IS good.

...And one must wonder about your insinuation on "real" writers.
 
Apologies. An apparently insensitive remark on my part. Just meant in jest, not an attempt to bash any subcultures. And no, I am by no means a 'real' writer, didn't mean that seriously. I'm just someone who enjoys writing things.

As to the relevant thread, it's safe to assume there's a mistake or flaw somewhere in a submission if it's unapproved. Hence my demand for critique, incase there was something I may have overlooked. I have a really, really bad habit of posting without proofreading sometimes, which can come back and bite me in the rear.
 
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