MULTIPURPOSE
DRONES
Throughout the Pact of Humanity's long and illustrious history it has faced brutal conflicts(Holot Empire) and long-lasting wars(Dionii Waves) which at times has threatened the very existence of the Pact. During these times of trouble, Pact military officials and civilian researchers have desperately tried to field new weapons in order to give the Pact military, especially the Navy, an advantage over its more rabid enemies and that is how the unmanned drone came into being.
At first, drones were not terribly effective. They were initially fielded during the Dragaerean Conflict, which lasted from 4,990 to 5,013, and were used in the Operation Aphrodite campaign. The main limitation was the inability to launch the "Dragonfly" drones from Pact naval warships nor having the operators to control them. Basically a modified missile housing, the Dragonfly was primarily used for reconnaissance but after a month of use the Pact Navy called it a flop and quit deploying the system.
During the Second Dionii Wave(6,671-6,682), the Pact started making new drones that were much more effective. The "Firefly" and "Swarm" drones were used fairly extensively during the conflict, including the first warp capable transit into a hostile Dionii-held system. Later on, they were used for other missions including planetary recon, comint and elint, mine detection, and fighter suppression. The first weapon ever deployed aboard a drone took place in 6,680 utilizing a "Firefly" housing and a large nuclear warhead. The PNS Wackenhutt fired the modified drones at a Dionii cruiser outside the Pact ships' normal missile range, destroying the enemy with massed fire before it could come into weapons range. This combat technique was used many times afterwards, saving many Pact ships' and crewmembers lives by using the automated weaponry of drones.
Drones have also been used for fire support for Pact Navy ships, starting with the "Bumblebee" infodrone in 6,833 at the outbreak of the First Kanga War. Drones were used aggressively in that conflict as frontier commanders were badly understaffed and few capital ships were available during the fighting. Several demoralized Kanga warships actually surrendered to drones during the conflict and drones demonstrated their worth again when new sensors and weapons were added to them late in the conflict.
Newer drone systems, the "Pioneer" and "Gnat" use stealthy drives and coatings to minimize their signature in space, and while still in the development stage a "Pioneer" drone actually orbited the Goog Homeworld in 8,690, eyeing the planets' defenses without being spotted in return. Hundreds of "Gnat" drones were used during the most recent Resolution Campaign and Admiral Cavalier gave credit to the "Gnat" and its recon ability for success in pushing back the massed Dionii hordes that threatened to overrun the Nemo Combat Region.
Endurance is a unique capability of drones, which can stay in space gathering data for almost a week. Future drones are on the drawing board, with both the Pact Army and Navy designing and testing combat drones. The Army is planning on fielding the "Recon", a tactical drone used for planetary combat, while the Navy is testing the "Dragoneye", a small drone with tougher penetration abilities including chaff dispensers and other anti-missile defenses. Drones also saw heavy use in the recent Resolution Campaign as well, and were remarkably effective for their size.
One of the most brutal and brilliant campaigns against the virulent Dionii Hive, the Resolution Campaign was the brainchild of Admiral Frank Cavalier, who later became one of the Pact's most notable Warlords. His ideas for using sustained long-range fighter strikes and powered down superdreadnoughts firing SBMHAWK waves(a very risky tactic) enabled the much smaller Pact fleet to destroy a substantial portion of the 20th Dionii Wave during its initial phases. Another key to victory during the Wave was the stubborn(and incredibly heavy) defenses that Admiral Cavalier also deployed in the Horseye Combat Region. The success of his careful planning left the Pact military only the tasks of reducing several isolated strongholds and generally mopping up in the York Subsector. His non-traditional use of the Medusa-class superdreadnoughts raised eyebrows at Fleet Headquarters, but what mattered was results, and Admiral Cavalier was promoted to commander of the entire Horseye Combat Region. In August of 10,961, faulty intelligence caused Admiral Cavalier and nearly 120 warships to be trapped in a Dionii-occupied system. In the following Battle of Hamimoto, Admiral Cavalier fought off overwhelming odds(ten to one), crushing every fleet and task force the mindless Dionii hordes threw at him. Every capital ship was heavily damaged upon finally reaching a secure warp point but thanks to Admiral Cavalier’s tactical brilliance, every capital ship under his command survived. His superdreadnought, PNS Relentless, was hit hard, and Admiral Cavalier wounded, and for his actions he received the Warlordship.
Although much credit is given to Admiral Cavalier's unusual tactics during the 20th Dionii Wave, the Pact military itself had been substantially transformed in the last few decades. Since the late 10,800s, improvements in command, control, communications, and intelligence capabilities together with the greater availability and effectiveness of advanced weapons and munitions, has made the Pact military machine far more deadly than previous conflicts with the Dionii. However, Admiral Cavaliers' brilliant tactics should not be underrated. A hard-nosed fighter with respectable people skills, Admiral Cavalier was able to save several inhabited systems from being overrun by the Dionii hordes and enabled the famous "York Line" to hold during the onslaught. Towards the end of the first half of the Wave, the Pact Navy had been fighting hard, even brilliantly(under now Warlord Frank Cavalier's command), who secured several vital Dionii systems during long-running fleet battles. As the fighting began to center around Arrule III, the Dionii never broke and fought hard, although not particularly well, during Resolution's final maneuvers. In the end, the Pact Navy beat back the first, heavy phase of the 20th Dionii Wave and combat commanders are now confident that after the initial brunt has been destroyed, they will overcome any additional light Dionii forces in the following phases of the campaign.
AUTOMATED WEAPON CONTROL SYSTEM(ACSx)
HTL: According to the table below.
HS: According to the table below
Cost: According to the table below.
Effect: Controls a number of IDEW, MF patterns, BattleSats, and SBMHAWKs, according to the table below.
Disadvantage: The advanced nature of higher tech levels allows a no minus to hit for all drone weapons. In reality, androids or humans control these weapons by remote control, or robotic brains installed on board the drone . Also, any targeting enhancements(Mix, etc) only give 1/2 effectiveness when used. ?2 reduces effectiveness by another point if either the drone or its controller is in range.
ACS
ACSx HS CONTROL MCr TL
1 5 5 20 1
2 5 10 35 3
3 4 12 70 5
4 4 20 100 7
5 3 20 150 9
6 3 25 230 11
7 3 30 300 13
8 2 30 450 15
9 2 35 525 17
10 2 36 500 19
11 2 40 525 21
DRONE BODIES
These bodies are designed immediately, and cannot be changed without totally redesigning the drone(so no pulling out L pods when you discover your enemy has no armor, and respective for E and shield!). Spaces indicate how much room is available on the drone for items, csp is space taken up in a cargo bay. Drones are launched from XO racks(csp/10 XO Racks) or Drone Bays. They are targeted as drones, and can employ evasive maneuvering. Finally, all drones are typically stored on the mounting ship in a folded configuration, their equipment is removed and stored separately; requiring a number of csp equal to their size for storage. Maintenance for these items is the standard 15%.
TYPE SPACES CSP TL COST
Drone 1 4 40 1 10
Drone 2 8 40 4 15
Drone 3 12 30 7 30
Drone 4 15 20 10 30
Drone 5 20 20 13 50
Drone 6 25 15 16 60
Drone 7 28 15 19 80
Drone 8 30 10 22 100
DRONE ENGINES
These are not the actual engines, merely the power plants to make the drones go faster. Cost is per "engine".
ENGINE SPEED SPACES COST END TL
I1 6 2 4 1 day 1
I2 8 2 6 2 days 3
I3 10 2 8 3 days 6
I4 12 2 10 4 days 9
I5 14 2 12 5 days 12
I5 16 2 14 1 week 15
I6 18 2 16 2 weeks 18
I7 20 2 18 1 month 21
TARGETING
SCANNERS
These are miniturized versions of targeting scanners. To find the range
of the scanner, divide the number by 8, and multiply that by the starship
Xr range. Extra scanners on a drone do not assist in this targeting. If a
drone is within 1 SH of a controlling CIC-equipped ship, it gains that ships’
bonus to strike if it has a Mix on board.
CODE SIZE COST TL BONUS
Xa1 1 20 4 +1 to strike
Xa2 1 30 7 +2 additional targets
Xa3 1 40 10 +2 to strike
Xa4 1 50 13 +3 additional targets
Xa5 1 60 16 +3 to strike
Xa6 1 70 19 +12 additional targets
Xa7 1 80 22 +4 to strike
SCIENCE SCANNERS
These units are smaller versions of X, and require X on the mounting ship in order to have any benefit. Take the number, divide that by 8, and that is the value of its information. So 10 drones with Xb1 has been surveying for one month(assuming rotating shifts), and provide 5 points of information for survey purposes. They cannot be used for planetary surveys(in atmosphere). Also, multiple scanners on a drone do not give any additional effect.
CODE SIZE COST TL
Xb1 5 20 2
Xb2 4 30 5
Xb3 3 40 8
Xb4 2 50 11
Xb5 1 60 14
Xb6 1 70 17
Xb7 1 80 20
Xb8 1 90 23
DRONE BEAM WEAPONS
These are miniaturized weapons designed to be mounted on drones. At high tech levels(TL12), drones fire full powered beam weapons to half their normal range.
CODE SIZE COST TL
Fa 6 50 9
La 6 30 5
Ea 6 50 11
HET 8 70 8
HET2 8 80 12
HET3 8 90 16
HET4 8 100 19
Pc 8 80 8
Pc2 8 90 15
Pc3 8 100 18
Pg 8 50 7
Pg2 8 80 12
Fc 8 80 8
Fc2 8 100 11
Fc3 8 150 14
Fvc 8 80 15
Fvc2 8 100 19
DRONE MISSILE WEAPONS
These weapons are not so much launchers as one-shot weapons. Also, drones cannot be stored with missile warheads on board(they are stored in the a ship's magazine). drone bodies are stored separately(usually in a cargo compartment or Mg).
CODE # in Rack COST TL DEV
SM-n 3 35 3 2,000
CM-a 1 55 9 3.000
CM-AAM 1 75 11 4,000
-GT 1 100 19 5,000
-o 1 50 19 6,000
They are full-sized versions of the warheads. Research must be paid again for each item covered(i.e. you research the full-size version, but the drone version doubles it).
SHIELDS
This system only confers a general minus to be hit when the drone is being
fired at. Note, the S2 is -1 vs ships and small craft.
CODE SIZE COST
TL NOTE
S1 1 2 1 -1 vs ships
S2 1 4 3 -1 vs small craft
S3 1 6 5 -2 vs ships
S4 1 8 7 -2 vs small craft
S5 1 10 9 -3 vs ships
S6 1 12 11 -3 vs small craft
S7 1 14 13 -4 vs ships
S8 1 18 15 -4 vs small craft
ARMOR
This system only confers a general minus to be hit when the drone is being fired at. Armor for drones is a special spray-on system, and is not combinable.
CODE SIZE COST TL NOTE
A1 1 2 1 -1 vs ships
A2 1 4 3 -1 vs small craft
A3 1 6 5 -2 vs ships
A4 1 8 7 -2 vs small craft
A5 1 10 9 -3 vs ships
A6 1 12 11 -3 vs small craft
A7 1 14 13 -4 vs ships
A8 1 16 15 -4 vs small craft
STEALTH
The Pact invented stealth technology early in its history, and it spread over to drone technologies. "Stealth" isn't traditional stealth, its an emissions dampening system that includes a spray-on absorbing system. Stealth allows a drone to be unseen; the higher the TL the less it is seen by the enemy.
CODE SIZE COST TL NOTE
St1 3 50 3 -10%
St2 3 50 5 -15%
St3 3 60 7 -20%
St4 2 60 9 -30%
St5 2 70 11 -40%
St6 2 70 13 -50%
St7 1 80 15 -60%
St8 1 80 17 -70%
SPECIAL
The Pact of Humanity is the only power that uses drone technology. Thus, they have come up with many specialized systems and weapons to fit to the drone body.
CODE SIZE TL COST
NOTE
-SS 8 8 45 Scatter-shell(anti-external stuff)
-NN 5 8 90 Neutron
-EE 8 8 60 ECM
-AA 8 9 80 AWAC
-RP 8 9 50 Ram prow(anti-armor, 15 pts dmg)
-TT 8 9 30 Tractor Beam
-WW 8 10 80 ESW(phony ship)
-AF 8 10 50 Anti-fighter PD
-LL 5 10 70 Lamprey
DRONE BAY(DBay)
A small bay designed to hold and fire multipurpose drones. The csp is the cargo size of the drones that can be stored in a Drone Bay, ready for launch. Level is the highest number of drones that the Bay can control without needing its fire control systems getting an upgrade. It takes hours to reconfigure a "package".
CODE HS COST TL CSP LEVEL DEV
DBay1 2 30 2 200 6 5,000
DBay2 2 45 5 250 8 6,000
DBay3 2 60 8 300 10 7,000
ENDURANCE(E*)
To add endurance, follow the following table:
1hs = +1 day of endurance(but at Tl14 its +1 week)
1hs=1MCr
All Multipurpose Drone ideas courtesy of Todd Kes.