Rogue Drone
 |
This article is considered to be In Character by its author. |
| Ticker | RD |
| Leads | Authochthonian, Chevalleis, Myxx |
| Archivists | Authochthonian, Chevalleis |
| Status | Active |
| Channel | AJ: RD |
| Staff | |
| Research | Chevalleis, Myxx, Yuni/Unit Commune, Authochthonian |
| Contributors | Hilen Tukoss, Authochthonian |
Overview
The Rogue Drone is a First Generation Rogue Drone (Drone Class), it appears to have been of Minmatar origin as it was originally a Tech I Warrior Light Scout Drone and externally it maintains the same appearance. This may be due to keeping a stealth like ability by being able to appear as a standard drone or it may well be that the Hive deems the resources required to upgrade the drone inefficient and easier to create a new Rogue Drone of the Hives own design then to retro-fit this existing drone. A major draw back of First Generation Rogue Drones appears to be that the advanced A.I. systems are very power hungry and so power is redirected from all other systems to meet this requirment, this leaves the drone with reduced capacities in all other areas.
File:Warrior left.JPG Profile: Left |
File:Warrior front.JPG Profile: Front |
File:Warrior right.JPG Profile: Right |
Analysis
Design
This is an Evolved First Generation Rogue Drone and as such its design is of Empire origin, all of its systems are almost identical to a typical Tech I Warrior Ligh Scout Drone with only a few systems showing signs of modification using Nanites. Outwardly this Rogue Drone is almost impossible to distinguish from a normal Warrior in use all over New Eden, the only difference is a slight change in the colour of the Hull and Solar Collectors which an observant Capsuleer may be able to notice using direct observation with their camera Drones.
Systems
Small amounts of Rogue Drone technology have been integrated into this drones systems to increase its performance in certain areas. One such area is the Solar Collectors, their efficiency has been increased by more then 60% over their Empire counterparts with all this extra power being routed directly to the A.I. core. The exact mechanism for this increase is not yet fully understood but appears to be linked to a thick coating of a Crystal Compound layered on top of the Collector panels themselves.
Mounted in the front of the drones Hull is a sensor suite including Magnetometric & Visual capability with a scan resolution of 850mm which seems to be the result of an Opulent Compound being used to enhance the sensors resolution, this has been done to increase this Rogue Drones combat performance. The main Engines appear to be current Empire designs, with an increase in energy efficiency as would be expected in Rogue Drone systems and are mounted either side of the main Hull on top of the wings at the rear of the Rogue Drone, they have the capacity to boost the drone up to a speed of 250 Meters Per Second whilst still maintaining a good level of agility which is in keeping with all Drone class sized ships.
The system that shows the most amount of modification is the A.I. Core as you would expect in an Evolved Rogue Drone, there are multiple expansions to the memory banks and there are also twice the amount networked processors in the center of the Core when compared to a Scorpionfly Apis Rogue Drone and these have all been upgraded with a Motley Compound to improve their operational speed and performance. There also a large increase in the amount power that is being feed into the Core along the heavily modified and reinforced power conduits, as the expanded Core consumes a huge amount of the power generated by this drones Reactors and Solar Collectors.
Armaments
Mounted either side of the main Hull are a pair of modified Autocannons which serve as this Rogue Drones only armaments. Due to the difficulty of obtaining new supplies of high grade Autocannon shells this drone is outfitted with custom shells of Rogue Drone manufacture which has resulted in lower damage yields being achieved with these cannons then you would normally expect.
These cannons have however been modified to increase their rate of fire in an attempt to compensate for the lower quality ammunition and a clever modification has been added to the cannons interiors, by using a series of capacitors both inside the magazine and the barrel of the weapons the shells are charged with a high level of static electricity prior to firing which then discharges on impact with the target. This modification combined with a Glossy Compound rather then an explosive payload inside the core of the shells has increased the Autocannons damage against shields by significant margin and brings the damage output up to something respectable.
Behaviour & Intelligence
During combat encounters this Rogue Drone is used in the first waves amongst other interceptor classes as it is considered expendable by the Hive due to its limited utility and as such it tries to draw the fire from any hostiles present thus allowing the more powerfull drones time to move into range and attack. These drones are also used in stealth missions, such as gathering intelligence on possible targets and rival Hives or infiltration missions where the Rogue Drone lies in what appears to be in a dormant state inside an asteroid field waiting for a Capsuleer to come along and scoop it into its cargobay, where the drone will then start to infiltrate the ship board computer systems in an attempt to take control of the ship.
This Rogue Drone shows the typical soldier behaviour expected of a Rogue Drone, it shows no survival instincts when fighting to protect its Hive or when trying to achieve its missions objectives, preferring to fight to the death to accomplish either, as is common with all other soldiers in Hive type societies we know of that exist in nature.
Results
The results of our research has provided us with a wealth of information, which we have formatted into current standards used in Capsuleer ships for ease of comparison.
| Signature Radius | Scan Resolution | MAGNETOMETRIC Strength | Maximum Locked Targets | Maximum Lock Range | Maximum Velocity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45m | 850mm | 100 | 2 | 6 Kilometers | 250m/s |
| Weapon Damage | Explosive | Kinetic | Rate Of Fire | Tracking Speed | Optimal Range | Accuracy Falloff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turrets | 5 | 3 | 2.5 Seconds | 0.3287 rad/sec | 1,120 Meters | 4,500 Meters |
| Damage Resistances | ElectroMagnetic | Explosive | Kinetic | Thermal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shield Resistances | 0% | 60% | 40% | 20% |
| Armor Resistances | 60% | 0% | 25% | 35% |
| Hull Resistances | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Ship Structual Integrity (Hitpoints) | Amount | Regeneration Ability |
|---|---|---|
| Shield Capacity | 75 | Peak Passive Recharge Rate of 0.36 Capacity Per Second |
| Armour Capacity | 50 | - |
| Hull Capacity | 50 | - |
Performance
Being an Evolved First Generation Rogue Drone should be similar in performance to the Tech I Warrior of the Minmatar Republic and as such it will be compared to that particular drone type.
This Rogue Drone is a poor relation to its Empire cousin, the Tech I Warrior is superior in almost every single way, with a sensor suite that covers the whole spectrum, going through Gravimetric, Ladar, Magnetometric and Radar bands. The engines only possess less then a fifthteenth of the maximum thrust available to the Empire Warrior leaving the Rogue Drone lagging way behind during combat engagements, this combined with the fact that the Autocannons only do half of the Empire Warriors damage means that during a combat engagement the Rogue Drone will struggle to bring its weapons into range.
The armour systems have slightly less then half of the capacity as its Empire counterpart and the damage resistance profiles of both the shields and the armour are about the same for each system apart from the Empire Warriors armour has a higher resistance to thermal damage then the Rogue Drone. The structural strength of the Rogue Drone is not much better, having around a third of the strength of the Empire Warriors total structural strength.
The ways in which the Rogue Drone is superior to ite Empire cousin is in its power output from its Reactors & Solar Collectors being far greater, its A.I. Core having a far higher capactiy in both processor speed and memory space then the Empire Warriors. The sensor strength is twelve times higher then the Empire Warriors giving this Rogue Drone extremely strong sensors for its size and finally the Rogue Drones shields have a slightly higher capacity for damage absorption then the Empire Warriors.
Conclussions
Operating as a disposable soldier, infiltrator and an ambusher this Rogue Drone poses little threat to any Capsuleer in normal combat as even the most basic Tech I light scout drones they may deploy significantly out power this Rogue Drone. The only risks that they do pose to Capsuleer's is their infiltration ability (if you take one onboard your vessel by scooping it to your cargohold and it starts to hack into your computer systems, this Rogue Drone is more dangerous then its Unevolved cousin, the Scorpionfly Apis in this regard as it has alot more processing power).
Their stealth capability to conduct recon flights on possible targets of interest with no risk of being identified (as a First Generation Rogue Drone its outward appearance is no different to standard Tech I Empire Warriors) should not be discounted as useless as this has the possibility to give the Hive advanced warning of approaching threats and thus time to prepare their defences, given the insanely high sensor strength this Rogue Drone possesses it is theoriesd that this drone is used for deep space reconnaissance. Capsuleer's should also be wary of ambushes from what appear to be abandoned Tech I Warriors found in deep space or Deadspace pockets.
Threat Assessment: LOW
