Ursarus Heavy Support Drone Prototyped by Egwene Tai and produced by Solara City manufactoring, the Ursarus Heavy Support Drone is a quadrapedic weapons platform with the appearance of a bear, hence the name. It was independently made by Egwene Tai with a focus on bounty hunters, mercenaries and solo operatives than the actual military, as the military no doubt have access to better gear and more people.
About the Ursarus Heavyset and robust, the Ursarus lives up to the name of heavy support. Ironically shaped, given how the Kodians are peaceful creatures, this quadrupedal Ursoid Drone is designed in two major variants. Large and heavyset, it is a good morale weapon against infantry from the start as the form invokes a primal fear of the great Ursa from millennia past. This was the intent and why the “head” is made into such an intimidating snarl rather than being made featureless.
Key Features The Ursarus has two variants.
The Mule variant has a specially designed back to be able to hold heavy loads and a secondary storage compartment in the 'stomach' for auxiliary storage. Together, it can shift about five hundred kilos of resources. It has a small seat at the front for a single person to ride along or two people if they get uncomfortably close. A person can be stuffed into the 'stomach' if you really need to smuggle him somewhere, but it is cramped, pitch black, hot, and generally the worst kind of transport.
The Combat Variant has a seat for three people - or five if they get uncomfortably close. It can carry a hundred kilos of resources. The stomach compartment can be filled with auxiliary storage or ammo for the weaponry system that will be attached. This variant has a heavier focus on firepower and passengers, with a lesser focus on storage, carrying rations and ammo and occasionally the wounded soldier to allow for extended deployments without bogging down the soldiers like donkeys or requiring skilled power armour pilots.
While the original intent was anti-tank, the drone is modular and customizable. If the owner already has good anti-tank weaponry, it is easy to load up the Combat Variant with strong anti-infantry cover or even just up-armour it further to act as mobile cover.
For both variants, the Ursarus is made of a rather labour-intensive metal that contributes to the overall bulk and price. Work-hardened manganese steel with layers of depleted Uranium make the Ursarus an incredibly robust and durable beast on the battlefield, perfect for soaking up shots and taking the brunt of all blows.
History While the L-3000 Combat Flight Suit is a decent suit of power armour, it is alone and it's weaponry's rate-of-fire is slow and not particularly strong in the grand scale. Plus, the choice of weaponry was limited as the suit didn't have a great deal of space to pack all the support for the weapons that it's frame can support. So Egwene devised something to solve this issue, creating the Ursarus Heavy Support Drone. This would carry the heavy gun to free up her frame, as well as bullets and battery packs for recharging her core in the field should it go dry from heavy energy weapon use. Unlimited energy was all well and good, but if the wiring and power conduits couldn't properly feed the multitude of weaponry required, it was just going to waste.
The prototypical design and concept was smaller than the finished product that is in market, being the size of a man rather than the size of a moderate Mech. Its design was simple enough that upscaling the design on demand was a task of only a few hours. Egwene designed the Ursarus as a companion to walk along side her and give ground support, but the request to make it a proper Mech-sized beast was acquiesced to. If there is popular demand for a smaller version she has no problem replicating it into more, but right now her one is unique.
The design of the Ursarus was delivered to an arms manufacturing facility, Egwene getting a singular sum and thirty percent of sales profits each quarter if it breaks a certain margin.
Appearance A giant cybernetic bear, the Ursarus stands about five and a half meters tall standing and is as wide as one might expect such a thing to be, but can fold it's legs down and 'sit' on the ground for mounting and loading. It can be painted any colour, though black is the standard for simplicity's sake. It's got a fully armoured core, with no part of the internals exposed, and secondary ablative armour around its joint to give it some staying power should it get hit in these weak spots.
The Combat Variant has more bulk as the recoil compensators and targeting computer take up more room than in the Mule variant, giving it a larger and more fearsome appearance. While the Mule variant is not slim by any measure, it is lighter and more slim than the Combat variant.
Statistical Information Type: Drone Support Class: Heavy Designer: Egwene Tai Manufacturer: Solara City Production: Limited Production Crew: The Ursarus has a MI brain that allows it to follow orders given to it by recognized command protocol, but is far more responsive with direct remote control. Maximum Capacity (Seated): Mule Variant: 2, potentially 3 if you put a guy in the storage component Combat Variant: 5 Passenger Capacity (Seated): Mule Variant: 2, potentially 3 if you put a guy in the storage component Combat Variant: 5 Width: Mule Variant: 6.4 meters Combat Variant: 6.7 meters Height: 5.4 meters Speeds Ground speed: 128km/h Range: Unless heavily ladened with energy weaponry, the Plasma Reactor will be able to keep the Ursarus going for up to a month before it requires replacement and refurbishment. Refit Cycle: The Ursarus has a nanogenus maintenance system similar to Egwene's own body to eliminate the need for routine maintenance. Like the one in Egwene's own body, it can not handle considerable battle damage.
Interior Being a drone, one can not get inside it unless they are extremely small. Passengers sit on top of the drone, and as such it is not advisable transport through active warzones. The only interior is the stomach of the mule and that is a horrible place to be.
Weapons Systems A modular design and rail-built mouth gun allows the Ursarus to change its weapon system in as little as a day, given the required workshop for that. If the gun in the mouth is integrated, instead, it is more complex. This requires a dismantling of the head, but the gun is still capable of being taken out and replaced as one might need, should they have the tools and the talent.
The gun in the mouth can either be integrated, which allows it to follow all the standard rules of weaponry, or set on rails and limited in size to ensure the rail system is not buckled under the weight of recoil.
Onboard Systems Descriptions The Ursarus has a Plasma Reactor in the centre to provide the most protection and a centralized power system allows for easier wiring to all parts of the drone. An automated injection/ejection system is built into the drone's side to replenish the emergency batteries in case the core is damaged or the Ursarus is pushed too hard with a heavy energy load.
The Combat Variant uses a Machine Intelligent Targeting Computer to direct its weaponry. Heavy recoil compensators are built into the legs to soak the recoil from blasts of heavy weapon fire. If one wants to use it as a remote drone exclusively, the computer can be removed and replaced with other hardware for no extra cost.
Cargo Capacity The Mule variant can move about five hundred kilos of resources, four hundred and fifty of which is mounted on the back, with fifty kilos in the stomach compartment.
The Combat Variant can carry a hundred kilos of resources, the stomach component filled with auxiliary storage or ammo for the weaponry system that will be attached should they require it.
Standard Equipment The Ursarus does not come with anything standard, though requests can be made for things to be built in. The Ursarus makes for an excellent firefighting mech if one builds a Fire Extinguisher into the mouth.
Other Pricing * Both models costs 8,000 KS as production is not different enough to warrant extra cost and does not come with any weaponry as standard. Thus, total pricing is flexible.