TECHNICAL DATA

FAST WALKER HK- SERIES 300 MODEL 36TY TYPE 15

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The Seeker design, while a adequate solution to defense and the occasional deterrence to massed attack by Resistance 'armies', was still a one-shot weapon. What SKYNET needed was a soldier that was cheaper (material wise) and quicker to produce. A semi-autonomous weapon platform capable of direct, independent action as well as coordinated, controlled direction. SKYNET was reviewing its design parameters; it needed a unit small enough to follow a average human through the ruins, a unit that was faster than a human and capable of overtaking and eliminating the target in a short order of time, thus allowing multiple target engagements without the threat of several targets eluding the unit while it concentrated on a single primary target. The average Resistance unit was armed with primitive explosives and chemical slug throwers of low velocity and small caliber so armor was limited by tactical considerations instead of design parameters.

The result of this need was the Fast Walker HK, the 300 Series.

The 300 Series was a bipedal weapon platform, mounted on two oversized servo enhanced legs with large triple claw pads. The design of the legs allowed the unit to balance on one leg while using the other leg for labor intensive work. The triple claw foot pads could not only be used in close combat (the claws could close inward, interlocking, with the force of hydraulics that could crush stone and tear steel) and for clearing debris / removing cover from Resistance units, but also provided the unit with superior traction on almost any surface. The claws could grip and dig in, allowing the full force of the hydraulic, myomer, and servo powered legs to literally catapult the unit forward in a high speed lope that no human could hope to match. The small size of the unit (2.5 meters tall, 1.5 meters wide) was matched only by its light weight (750kg). Its drive train could propel the unit to a running speed of 150kph on smooth terrain, about 50% of that on less even terrain. It's small size also meant that Resistance units could no longer use ruined buildings and tunnels as cover from larger HK units as the 300 Series could follow the Resistance units where they chose to hide.

Honeycombed aluminum and hyperalloy reinforced chassis mounts held the miniature reactor, the primary and redundant transmission units, and the electronics suite. In order to achieve a high volume of units, SKYNET had to retard the electronic self-autonomous capabilities of the unit slightly. SKYNET imparted a feral, almost animal intelligence into the 300 Series, resulting in an obedient soldier with the intelligence of a rabid guard dog and the single minded dedication of a machine. The 300 Series operated much in the manner of a crazed animal, smelling the kill. The 300 Series would squat dormant amid the rubble, sensors passive, until a target was acquired. The unit would then catapult itself out of its cover gaining speed, engaging what targets it acquired according to threat level and capability. 300 Series units were recorded by Scout units as actually tearing apart Resistance units rather than using energy ranged attacks; crushing resistance units with the 300 Series's claw feet, ripping and tearing other units apart, or using its own bipedal body to smash units against debris and building walls, crushing them.

The 300 Series shared many of the electronics of the Series 1200 Scout, and the capabilities of the Seeker. 300 Series units soon became known by a variety of descriptive names, the most commonly used being that of "Raptor". No amount of stealth protocol went into the design of the 300 Series and its servos whining as it covered the battlefield gave it a great psychological advantage over Resistance units.

The 300 Series was armored with hyperalloy, enough to withstand small caliber arms fire up to 7.62mm NATO. This was deemed adequate since at the time of the introduction of the 300 Series, the Resistance had not yet acquired massive stocks of phased plasma weaponry or the capacity to reproduce such weapons.  This changed when one of SKYNET's automated factories was hijacked by the Resistance. When the Resistance units became better armed, losses of the 300 Series series began to mount. Also, the limited intelligence of the semi-autonomous unit meant that it could be decoyed, or even tricked into tactically disadvantageous situations where it was quickly eliminated by smarter Resistance units.

300 Series units were armed with a internal mounted and stabilized Westinghouse M25A1 Phased Plasma Rifle. This weapon was linked directly to the miniature reactor allowing almost infinite firing. However, the weapon mount was static, aligned directly ahead along the chassis line. This required the 300 Series to turn and face its target directly when engaging. The weapon mount was, however, stabilized so the 300 Series could fire at full stride. Many disabled 300 Series units fell prey to Resistance Tech Com units which salvaged the miniature reactors and Westinghouse M32A1 units for later use against SKYNET units. This tactic was negated by the addition of a standard core charge to the 300 Series, activated upon critical damage or if the unit were disabled and unable to return to base. Later models mounted the heavier M95 plasma weapon.

The 300 Series was the first in SKYNET's series of ground attack units. Research and development as well as observed statistics and data from the field use of 300 Series units led to the eventual design and implementation of the T600 and T800 series.

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