Subcommander Bioroid

## Subcommander Bioroid (T'siendral)

The second design of the Bioroid series, the **Subcommander Bioroid** (**T'siendral**) was designed to act as a field commander for the Robotech Masters' forces.

## Background

While the basic Soldier Bioroid has fulfilled every one of the Robotech Masters' design requirements, it still was also a comparatively basic unit. Its biggest weakness, however, had come by design. The Soldier Bioroid was designed to be controlled by low-level clones that were programmed for absolute loyalty and had no existence outside of operating their Bioroids. While capably trained and possessing a fair degree of individual initiative, they also lacked any sort of broader tactical skill or battlefield awareness beyond what their sensors told them. At the same time, while the Assault Dropship could act as a command platform to direct Bioroid forces, there were those occasions when the presence of a Dropship in the field was not possible.

The Subcommander Bioroid was created to fill this gap in their capabilities. In essence, it was a Soldier Bioroid equipped with thicker armour and an upgraded electronics suite to give the mecha some ability to coordinate and control forces. The biggest difference, however, came in the from of the pilot. Subcommander Bioroids were piloted by mid-level Clones that had a far higher degree of individual autonomy and tactical acumen. This allowed them to lead Soldier Bioroid forces in the field and act on their own if cut off from their Assault Dropships. At the same time, the Subcommander pilots were still programmed for absolute loyalty to the Robotech Masters.

Due to their similarity to the Soldier Bioroid, the Subcommander was easy to mass produce and quickly proliferated across the Tirolian Empire. However, as the Masters' personal army continued to grow, the limitations of both the Bioroid and its pilot became obvious. As a result, the design somewhat fell out of favour and was displaced by the more advanced Commander Bioroid with its more sophisticated electronics and more advanced clone pilots. Many Subcommander Bioroids were reassigned to second-line duties, such as security on-board the Masters' Motherships.

The design was rarely encountered by the Army of the Southern Cross during the Second Robotech War, although when it did see action it was quite effective against the human-built Mecha it faced. The Subcommander Bioroid became one of the first designs to be mass-scrapped and recycled to provide components for the new Invid Fighter Bioroid, although examples continued to see action until the end of the war. None are known to have survived.

## Capabilities

At the most basic levels, the Subcommander Bioroid was a relatively straightforward upgrade of the Soldier Bioroid. The Bioroid was equipped with a more advanced Protoculture reactor than its predecessor, allowing for greater output. At the same time, its overall level of armour protection was improved, making it appreciably more resilient then its predecessor. Due to the combination of the upgraded powerplant and refinements to its musculature, the Subcommander Bioroid lost none of the agility of its predecessor, and was actually faster on its feet. All the functionality of its predecessor was maintained otherwise, including the use of the Hover Sled.

The Subcommander Bioroid included a more advanced communications suite than its predecessor, allowing its pilot to coordinate actions across a squad of Soldier Bioroids. At the same time, it was able to maintain a direct link to its parent Assault Dropship to share information and aid in coordination and battlefield control. The sensor suite was also refined to give the Bioroid a better ability to detect opponents as well as to track incoming missiles, which could in turn be intercepted by its secondary weapons.

In order to ensure this functionality, the Subcommander Bioroid was operated by a more advanced, mid-level clone that was capable of individual reasoning and initiative and had been programmed with considerable tactical skill. Some sources have indicated that Subcommander Bioroids may have also been piloted by clones with heavy cybernetic augmentation or even some from of android, however, these claims cannot be verified.

The armor on the Subcommander Bioroid is a low-mass composite-materials plating that was later emulated by Earth militaries for their mecha. Aside from the respectable protection provided against projectiles, missiles, and other kinetic weapons, this armor is also resistant to plasma globes (annihilation discs), lasers, and to a lesser extent, particle guns, owing to the fact that the armor can flake off and evaporate in layers under fire from such high-energy weapons, taking much of the weapon's energy and converting it into the latent heat of sublimation in the armor. The armor stops all small arms, heavy infantry weapons fire, and light mecha-mounted weaponry, and provides fair to good resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the GU-11's 55mm APFSDS round.

Note that the Bioroids' redundant systems and advanced design made them exceedingly capable of coping with battle damage, and the total protection afforded by the Bioroid was hence more than the armor data would suggest.

## Weapons and Equipment

* **Dotz-Meghor Drum Gun Pod:** Ion Beam/Pulse Cannon, fires ion discs. Alternatively, the weapon drum can fire this ion salvo as a particle beam. It can fire at a rate of 450 discs per minute for up to 56 seconds in automatic mode, after that limited to one burst/3 seconds, unless sub-maximum rate of fire allows replenishment of the ready ion supply.

* Optionally other gun pods could be used. See the main file for more information.

* 2 **Miniature Plasma Cannons:** Mounted on the head. A short-range, rapid fire weapon intended for use against enemy personnel and to intercept incoming missiles.

## Notes

* Design Notes
* Image Gallery
* Bioroid Main File
* Bioroid Hover Sled