Recycled Soldier

Recycled Soldiers are rear-echelon units created by the Life Recycling Institute from damaged or malformed Watchmen (and sometimes Kantoku or humans, depending on circumstances) as a means of maximizing available manpower for defense of the North American west coast. While other nations had already begun employing autonomous or semi-autonomous machines to shore up on numbers, the PRC lacked the means to do so, but had significant experience in bio- and cybernetic modifications and a readily available supply of components. By amputating the limbs and installing a cortical interface board through the back of the skull, the individual could be be made to operate a quadrupedal combat platform capable of performing area defence and fire support operations, employing fairly heavy weaponry to do so. As with other LRI programs, volunteers are accepted for conversion.
The life-support pods encasing the torso are removable from the combat frame, allowing for pilots to be stored safely until needed. Organ function is maintained by the pod, with regularly-scheduled fluid drainage and replacement facilitated through the tubing protruding from the "front" of the machine, at the base of the pod. Targeting is handled by a combination of regular eyesight and modular weapons sensor firmware processed via the cortical interface, meaning Recycled Soldiers are not wholly reliant on either system in combat. Their quadrupedal design makes them highly capable of navigating rough terrain very quickly, combined with a task-dedicated computer handling leg placement using an independent ground-viewing camera, resulting in a very high ground movement speed regardless of location that allows for RSs to be used in both ambush and pursuit roles.
All higher intelligence functions have been removed from the pilot, if they even existed in the first place. RSs receive instructions wirelessly through their cortical implant and are capable of following basic directives (ie. "Guard this location", "Eliminate that target") given verbally by authorized individuals, making them at least as capable as any other nation's military drone, though admittedly much less convenient.
The RS combat frame has two weapon hardpoints on either side of the life support pod housing. They are at minimum outfitted with at least one 7.62mm machine gun with a 200 round ammunition box. RSs may also be equipped with eight tube 66mm rocket pods, or even primitive claw-arms should the occasion arise where they need to grasp or manipulate something. They may also be equipped with proximity-detonated explosives and directed to chase down targets.
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Category:TE Technology
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