Imperial CMD-series Combat Droids

This was one of the many prototypes of Project Club, the Combat Multipurpose Droid program was perhaps the most ambitious. The design team had very specific ideas in mind when they started creating the CMD series. It must be dexterous and small enough to use standard Imperial equipment and vehicles, yet large and physically strong enough to be intimidating. It should be able to complete all typical Imperial missions, ranging from peace keeping to assaults, and smart enough to be able to serve in a ceremonial/diplomatic role. It should carry a wide assortment of integral weapons, ranging from stun weapons to anti-vehicle devices, and have manipulative ability sufficient for the operation of all Imperial issue infantry weapons. Taken in pieces, it has been done. All together, it was a most difficult mission.

The CMD's chassis is humanoid in appearance, and is composed of a mix of fibersteel, duranium, and cermiflex, for both strength and lightness. It is heavily armoured for additional protection. The joints are constructed of specially designed servos, for a mixture of flexibility and strength, and have been reinforced with heavy-lifting systems were needed for additional strength. The mechanisms in the legs are very advanced, giving the CMD speed rough equal to 25% greater than the fastest human sprinters. The final sign of the success of the personnel who designed the servos is that the CMD is simultaneously strong enough to rip apart a speederbike with it's bare hands, yet still agile enough to use the martial arts programming that they are given.

Their weapons systems are equally well rounded. The primary integral weapons are the blasters mounted on the forearms. Directly over the tops of these are dart launchers, each of which is fed by a pair of ten round magazines. There is a pair of mounts just behind the shoulders that swing down along the back when not in use, but when activated, raise into a firing position, and track off the cranial sensors. The left mount is for a grenade launcher that is stocked by a six round rotary magazine of caseless grenades, while the right mounts a heavy blaster. For close quarters, the CMD's fingers and foot-pads are equipped with retractable vibroclaws, and the palms contain a stun-shock generator. As per the results of the original brain-storming session, the hands of the CMD are dexterous enough to use all of the infantry weapons in the Imperial arsenal.

One would not expect protocol routines in a class four droid, but they exist, with the CMD programmed for the proper diplomatic manners for over one million cultures, and close to two million languages. It is also a skilled medical technician, but this is for a less than altruistic purpose- to know how to best interrogate a prisoner. In the field, CMDs are more than able to maintain themselves, their equipment, and unit members (mechanical and organic). They can, and are expected, to plan their own missions once they are given their objectives

Their sensors are very rugged and precise. The CMD is equipped with optical sensors that span the vast majority the electromagnetic spectrum and cover 360 degrees. (This once resulted in one being stripped down for a total refit, as it was asked why it looked at atomic detonations by it's human supervisor, and responded by saying "Sir, it is a gorgeous, fluid sculpture. The gammas are especially nice.") These are also equipped with micro and macroscopic image enhancing systems, and supplemented with rangefinding lidars. The auditory systems are precise enough to allow the CMDs to hear the pulse of an excited human at one meter, or a stationary repulsorlift vehicle at almost a kilometer. These are all supplemented by a short range motion tracker, automaping/global position systems, radiation detectors, radar, sonar and olfactory sensors that can determine the chemical make up of an atmosphere down to parts per ten thousand. Literally, they stop problems before they ever start, because they can smell the adrenaline released into the bloodstream by fear.

From the start, the CMDs were plagued with personality problems. Their processors are advanced enough to appreciate beauty and art, and several of those CMD units that went for a long time without a memory wipe developed an interest in philosophy or art work. They even develop a sense of humor- the prototype (CMD0) some how changed his registry codes to read CMDO, and insisted that everyone call him "Commando". (Since the lab techs felt the joke was fitting, and were scared to argue with him, they left it, and it has become his permanent registry number.) CMDs have "adopted" lower complexity droids, such as MSE units, as "pets". There was also one instance were an armourer droid had been given a female personality, and the CMD who was staging out of that garrison claimed to be "in love".

They sometimes talk about seeing things like ghosts, incidents that predated their presence in an area by over a century, things happening at the same time on worlds hundreds of light years away, even the future. They even know that what they are seeing is not directly happening to them, such as the CMD on Shastrile that tensed for combat while staring at a landing pad. One of the officers near him asked what he was looking at, and was told that the droid thought he saw a fire fight there for a second. Seven hours later, that same officer was killed in a shoot out with a swoop gang, while walking past that same landing pad. Such incidents gave the CMDs a reputation for being crazy and/or lucky. (It should be noted that the entire team responsible for designing the personality matrices were promoted two rank grades and transferred to Project Stinger.)

These personality instabilities were one of the reason why the CMD-series was limited to a production run of 65 (CMDO through CMD64). The others were cost (the research alone cost the same as three ISDs), and the fact that they were too good for the Army's taste. Droids such as the SIS ZQ infantry droid, the later ITO series and other Imperial military droids would go one to incorporate some of the intuitive programming, but no where near as much complexity. The sixty-two remaining prototypes (one was destroyed by an artillery blast, one was destroyed after mimicking Lord Vader's breathing to his face, and the other disappeared with the ISD Dark Nebula and it's crew) are in service with Imperial Intelligence, and as support units for the Imperial Army, Navy and Stormtroopers. They rarely work in pairs. One is more than devastating enough.

model: Imperial Droid Corp. CMD-series combat droid
type: droid commando
DEX 4D
Blaster 7D, Blaster Artillery 6D, Brawling Parry 6D, Dodge 7D, Grenade 5D, Melee Combat, Melee Parry 5D, Missile Weapons 6D, Vehicle Blasters 6D, (A) Martial Arts 4D, (A) 0-gee Combat 4D
KNOW 2D
Alien Species 4D, Cultures 5D, Intimidation 5D, Languages 6D, Law Enforcement 4D: Imperial 5D, Streetwise 4D, Survival 5D, Tactics 5D, Technology 4D, Willpower 5D
MECH 4D
Communications 5D, Sensors 5D, Space Transports 5D, Starfighter 5D, Starship Gunnery 5D, Repulsorlift Operations 6D
PERC 3D
Command 5D, Hide 4D, Search 5D, Sneak 4D
STR 4D
Brawling 7D
TECH 3D
Armour Repair 4D, Blaster Repair 4D, Computer Programming/Repair 4D, Demolition 6D, Droid Programming 4D, Droid Repair 5D, First Aid 4D, Security 5D
Equipped With:
Humanoid Body:
2 legs, human-type hands, torso, 2 arms, head
Armour:
All locations, +2D physical, +2D energy
High-speed Lifting Servos:
+2D STR for lifting and all brawling and melee damages.
Weapons systems:
2 Blaster Carbines:
Blaster, 3-30/100/250, ammo 300, 5D damage
2 Dart Shooters:
Missile Weapons, 1-4/8/30, ammo 2x10 rounds, damage varies by load (typically 2D-8D, stun or lethal)
Heavy Blaster:
Blaster, 3-30/200/800, fire rate 1/2, ammo 25, 7D damage
Grenade Launcher:
Missile Weapons, 4-20/100/200, fire rate 1, ammo 6, damage varies by grenade type
2 Stun Generators:
Brawling, STR+2D stun brawling damage. If the droid has a solid grasp on the target, they may be fired at 6D stun, but takes four rounds to reset.
Retractable Vibroclaws:
Brawling, STR+2D. May be used to assist Climbing rolls (+1D)
Cutting Laser:
.3m range, power for 6 rounds, 7D damage. (Moderate Melee Combat roll if used as a weapon)
Computer Interface Probe
Sensors:
+1D Search, +1 on Initiative rolls
Visual Sensors:
+2D Search, no darkness penalties, +1D vs cover penalties, 360 degree vision
Rangefinding Lidars:
+3 bonus to hit at long ranges with ballistic weapons (slug throwers, rail guns, missile weapons, etc), negated by a 2D or better smoke field or equivalent
Olfactory sensors:
+1D Search: tracking
Military Auto-mapping System:
Requires a Moderate Computer Pro/Rep roll per hour to maintain link. Gives location (+/- 1m accuracy) of receiver, local weather maps, etc. May also be used as a datalink for orbital/airborne recon and target designation data
Vocabulator:
also has a public address mode
Protocol Module:
contains approximately 2 million languages, over one million cultural protocols.
Internal Comlink
Story Factors:
Odd: CMD's are eccentric, especially for Imperial droids. A typical CMD has 4D in some specialization of Musical Instrument Operation, Scholar, or Artist, or some kind of adopted "pet" droid, such as a perimeter droid or mouse droid. They have a real sense of humor, and have a deeply developed personality.
move: 15
height: 2m, 1.45m wide at the shoulders
personality matrix: Complex
cost: 750,000 (Imperial purchase cost)
1.5 million (black market, projected)


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