Remote War Machine

The incursion began with a series of probes detected by anacites on Aballon. Strange machines with blazing sensors and articulated tentacles appeared out of nowhere, ripping through infrastructure seemingly at random and collecting intelligence all around Pact Worlds space. Panic spread fast, but since the machines always vanished without a trace, or exploded when captured, the sightings couldn't be confirmed or identified. Rumors began to circulate that the machines were a form of biotech never encountered before. Soon the Stewards became formally involved, shuttering the incidents behind the adamantine partition of top security clearance. In Sarenith of 325 AG, after dozens of military operations failed to engage the elusive probes, a wing of fighters dispatched from The Idari finally got lucky and disabled one of the machines before it could self-destruct. Coaxed into giving up some of its secrets by top Pact Worlds scientists, the biotech vessel became the prototype for the “home grown” remote war machines that are currently being tested for use in combat. The replicas aren't alive but are built using robotic construction templates since the core of the original biotech design has proven too complicated to reverse engineer with Pact technology. Remote war machines are proxies that can be controlled from a great distance. The original biotech war machines connect to the pilot's mind through a psychic link or unknown radio frequency. Robotic remote war machines connect to a computer via data link, allowing the pilot to control their proxy using a keyboard, virtual reality rig, or even a vidgame controller. Robotic War Machine Abilities Many robotic remote war machines possess one of the following 2-action abilities and one reaction. If you give a war machine more abilities than these, you might want to increase its level and adjust its statistics. Attack Pattern Alpha Two Actions The remote war machine Steps or Strides, then makes two Strikes against the same target. Both Strikes count toward its multiple attack penalty, but its multiple attack penalty doesn't increase until after it makes both Strikes. Attack Pattern Beta Two Actions The remote war machine makes a Strikes against a target, then Steps or Strides and makes a Strike against another target within range. Both Strikes count toward its multiple attack penalty, but its multiple attack penalty doesn't increase until after it makes both Strikes. Attack Pattern Delta Two Actions The remote war machine Strides twice and then Strikes. Attack Pattern Gamma Two Actions The remote war machine makes three Strikes against any combination of targets. Each Strike gains the Agile trait, and each Strike counts toward its multiple attack penalty. BVR Engagement Two Actions The remote war machine makes a ranged Strike at a target as though its weapon had double its normal range. This Strike ignores all forms of concealment and cover. Ballistic Defense Matrix Reaction Trigger A creature attempts a ranged Strike against the remote war machine; Requirements The war machine is currently outside the creature's reach; Effect The remote war machine makes a ranged Strike against the triggering creature. If the result of this Strike is equal to or greater than the result of the triggering Strike, the triggering Strike is treated as though it were a critical miss. Notch Position Reaction Trigger An enemy Strides; Requirements The remote war machine is outside the target's reach; Effect The remote war machine Strides up to its Speed in the same direction as the target until the target stops moving or the war machine has moved its full Speed. Members Biotech Advanced War Machine (Creature 7), Biotech Superior War Machine (Creature 11), Biotech Ultimate War Machine (Creature 15), Boneflayer (Creature 5), Robotic Advanced War Machine (Creature 5), Robotic Elite War Machine (Creature 13), Robotic Superior War Machine (Creature 9), Robotic Tactical War Machine (Creature 3) Code Names The war machines Observed in The Pact Worlds often resemble blooming mechanical flowers with vine-like tentacles instead of stamens. When designing their own robotic versions of remote war machines, Pact engineers decided to differentiate their inventions from the mysterious biotech that inspired them by choosing animalbased names for their robotic war machines and plant-based names for the unidentified biotech war machines. Cursed Biotech? While every corporation takes a different approach to designing their line of remote war machines, they all have one thing in common: a high number of mysterious employee deaths. Frequent on-site accidents combined with lead engineers and head scientists going missing or found dead in their homes with no apparent injuries have spawned rumors that the mysterious technology is cursed. More pragmatic explanations suggest corporate espionage or infiltration by the remote war machines' original creators. For now, the truth is classified. Self-Destructing Protein Chains One of the most difficult puzzles to solve when reverse-engineering biotech war machines is defusing their elegant self-destruct mechanisms. The current leading theory is that living protein chains are used in the remote war machines' operations, and when they “die,” the proteins collapse upon themselves with enough energy to burn the biotech shell and release dangerous amounts of radiation. Warp Jumps The probes later identified as biotech war machines weren't deployed by any visible ship, nor did they ping any Drift beacons—they seemingly materialized and vanished, producing no discernible magical signatures. A leading hypothesis asserts biotech war machines can fold space-time and make massive intergalactic or even transdimensional jumps.