NRM-J4 "Rudy" Combat Drone

The “Rudy” is a third-generation combat drone originally designed by Shasta No Sekai in YE 45 before being sold the rights to the Nepleslian Reds early the following year in YE 46 during the Fall Of Osman by Warmaster Abigail of the Strays.

The Rudy is a step above the original design lacking much of the low-cost manufacturing of the AAP drones.

Designer:
Nomenclature:	NRM-J4-1A
Manufacturer:	Nepleslian Research and Manufacturing
Fielded by:	Fujiko Self-Defense Force
Damage Rating (Version 3)	Tier 2
Production Level	Limited Mass Production
Pricing	3,000 KS

Originally a MK-II type tactical drone devloped by Shasta No Sekai fielded into one of seven companies by the SnS corporation, five of which would see deployment to the Planet Osman in late YE 45 during the Osman liberation campaign by the SOS Coalition led by Warmaster Abigail of Shasta No Sekais military contingent. During the campaign the SnS contingent would regularly recycle natural resources to their fabricators to mass-produce entire companies of their AAP drones in the many drops planetside or by local manufactory bases.

Expecting a significant lack of available Fairy Ai on hand required to control their drones the Warmaster of the operation sold the rights to produce MK-II tactical AAP drones to a handful of mercenary outfits participating in the campaign at its start hoping they would be able to retrofit them to work without a Fairy controller. Of the many groups participating in the liberation of Osman, included was the 1st Fujiko Expeditionary Unit (1st FEU) of the Nepleslian reds to whom the right to produce and retrofit such drones was sold.

After the steady destruction of their Ze-J6 "Jessie" combat robots during initial operations during their time on Osman, the 1st FEU used salvaged AI cores from inoperable Jessies to modify early MK-II drones to create the first “Rudy” Combat Drones as replacements. While simpler compared to the more individualistic and complex Fairy AIs, the Ze-J6's AI is still capable of operating autonomously or as part of a team. But there was only so many available AI cores, prompting to make use of open source modules of the RaiNE OS to develop makeshift AIs by their IT specialists to create additional drones.

The design was improved further compared to the low-cost MK-II drones with much more reliable armor made from Osmanium sourced from Osmans mines liberated by 1st FEU's Alpha Company and the SOS coalition elsewhere early on compared to the Thorium/durandium hybrid mix of the AAP drones. Additional upgrades were added to improve performance thereafter as the campaign went on and materials were acquired or salvaged making arguably the best outcome of all the modified drones fielded during the campaign and despite lacking much of the sophistication of the Fairy AIs ability to problem solve the Rudy showed overall increases in durability and longevity over its much cheaper to produce progenitors.

The Rudy is a classic bipedal, humanoid-style drone soldier platform. Standing at five foot three tall and weighing close to two hundred and fifty pounds the drone has two arms and two legs on a humanoid-appearing chassis of rough edges and utilitarian design. The drone can operate in a full human range of movement and perform complex tasks that require dexterity of the fingers or hands such as grasping, typing, reloading, operating simple equipment, etc.

The Rudy has the following systems:

Containing a simplistic RaiNE OS or Ze-J6 Jessie AI (each with limited problem-solving capabilities), the Rudy can do simple problem-solving with limited information such as differentiating enemies from allies and non-combatants, identifying equipment and vehicles of the same, patrolling and guarding, moving and lifting objects and equipment without damaging them, sorting and performing simple tasks, etc. The Rudy can speak in a monotone male or female (if using RaiNE OS) voice in both Trade (language) and Yamataigo (邪馬台語) either vocally or over radio frequencies and can understand and relate orders and strings of tasks.

The AI is simple but not unintelligent and can learn from experience and data such as understanding how to disassemble and clean a weapon if shown and explained, Operating simple equipment if taught, organizing objects in proper locations and certain ways if shown, etc. The AI is simple at best, but is designed to learn and adapt over time and experience. This can be jumpstarted with pre-loaded data, usually copies of the same knowledge used to teach new Nepleslian Reds.

Under the armor and between joints and servos the Rudy has nano-muscle that dictates its performance. Able to bend, stretch, and contract these nano-muscles allow the Rudy to run, jump, climb, and lift its own weight and then some up to Nepleslian-male levels of strength (100kg) or speed (54kph).

The Rudy has a Durandium Alloy impact-resistant frame on which layers of osmanium are placed over critical areas such as the chest, around joints, parts of the arm such as bicep and forearm, and the headcase. Over this armor is a very thin layer of anti-energy style coating that while minimal in its protective abilities helps with absorbing small amounts of energy-related damage such as laser fire to compensate for its discrepancies in protection.

The armor insulates the drone itself allowing it to operate in locations such as space, underwater, and in high-heat locations without damaging its internals while the greatest threat to it is dampened in an EM-protected shell around its central processors preventing large-scale EMP weapons from shutting it without extensive damage.

The armor has simple hardpoints for attachable pouches for ammunition, equipment, storage, etc. A maglock is located on the drones' thigh-armor on either side for attaching weapons when the hands are required for use.

The Rudy is powered by a personnel-scale Compression Fusion Reactor in its chest that allows it to operate for up to seven days in a passive low-energy mode or forty-eight hours of constant use such as in continued combat. The reactor is heat-shielded and in a damage-buffered part of the chest that protects it from everyday damage such as falls or light impacts. The reactor does run hot at times and shows up visibly compared to the rest of the Rudy on IR-detection sensors.

While not carrying any built-in weaponry unlike some of the drones it was based on the Rudy has the downloaded training to operate most any small arm such as rifles, pistols, shotguns, etc. They lack some of the optics for more intricate weapons such as marksman-based weaponry and are less proficient though still able to use weapons such as grenade or rocket launchers.

For Melee weapons the Rudy can use most weapons by their intended design such as knives, axes, swords, clubs, etc. Being of roughly Nepleslian in strength they are not at all inconsiderate in their abilities with melee weapons though their programming often dictates them to just shoot the cliche enemy trying to enter against them in melee combat that plagues the sector.

The armor of the Rudy is paint-adhesive reliable and allows the Rudy to be painted for various environments most any color from tropical patterns to stark whites and grays for arctic operations.

The Rudy can see in various spectrums such as the base spectrum, in low-light with nightvision, infared style heat vision, and can pick up and detect radiation. They see through a singular built in monoeye in their helmet and can transmit their visual feed to other Rudys and allied forces.

Charmaylarg created this article on 2023/11/24 12:33. Demibear further refined the article and submitted it.

Approval Thread: https://stararmy.com/roleplay-forum/threads/nrm-j4-rudy-combat-drone.72132/