Quoted By:
Also, Agent, here's your enhanced information package. This is what I've got on the White Moon relevant Cyboforma systems, as derived from our data, information from the Metroplex and tactical assessment informatics available in the mediascape. If you get me access to their Tacnet or scan some of their units, I can probably derive more up to date information.
Of relevant note is that the anthrofom Cyboforma are big, humourless brutes, vatgrown and bio-spliced to perform to spec. They look like people but that's marketing. They're really fully synthetic lifeforms with no humanity, and most of their brain-cognition functioning comes from a organoid brain and some particularly clever work on stimuli-response. Used to be peopel thought systems like these would revolutionize small unit tactics, they're more deployable than drone systems and though they have a markedly higher maintenance profile the maintenace is the same as you're already giving your normal people. Just give some protein and they can make do. Only they don't have all the weaknesses of normal people, like individuality and opinions. The issue is the systems fritz out, they're not as overridable as drones, and sometimes they ... act... up ... when given intense stimulation. It turns out, also, that if you mass produce ten thousand combat drones and seed them over an area, they form an integrated tactical net that provides information and data-enhancement that your orbiting satelittes can use, just in case you happen to be a Chironan or US government employee, but if you seed ten thousand Cyboforma over an area you get... not that?? And then there's ethical considerations, the upkeep, the fact that bio-tailored counter-measures can take out your entire stockpile, drones you can long-term store in downpower conditions but you can't really turn a Cyboforma <span class="mu-i">off</span> though have some dormancy modes, etc etc. The White Moon have some facilities somewhere where they produce these, and they can do that with relatively low footprint and have a steady churn of fairly dangerous equipment but it's hard to see these days why people thought this was going to be the warfighting model of the future.
Variants include the Quadruped hunter model, which is all the worst parts of a wolf-tiger-puma-scorpion and then given armour plates and a tactical ingregated uplink and the Scuttlers, which are these NIGHTMARISH!!! cockroach THINGS and I will ABSOLUTELY argue you're supposed to get a HIGHER BONUS if you STOMP ON ANY YOU SEE because they are AWFUL. AWFUL. JUST AWFUL.
GHGHGHGH.
Ahem.
The real danger here is that they combine the optimal profiles for living systems AND drone specs, which means they are hardened and unikely to be inconveniced by low level damage. Most human opponnts will moan in pain and run away when you shoot them, but a Cyboforma will take the injury and keep coming. Impact-Fray rounds will penetrate their armor shell, and close quarters weapons can target vulnerable components
