Destrons
Kapech, a planet on the trailing fringe of the Crimson Imperium, is one of the few acknowledged 'red zones' of the interstellar state, a quarantined area guarded by a naval unit of
five packs of Heavy Destroyers, supporting the Imperium's Eighth Guard Group and a regiment of the Marines. All of these forces are directed towards the tasks of preventing the ongoing conquest of the planet by what appears to be a robot army, evacuating the remaining Imperial citizens from the planet, and preventing the robots from spreading beyond this one world. The first task is acknowledged to be a lost cause by the High Command. Because Kapec was home to a number of robotic manufacturers prior to the robotics ban, it is generally believed that the robots are the product of a surviving, hidden factory, likely reactivated by the Insurgency.
This belief is utterly wrong.
Roughly four thousand years ago, in a different region of the galaxy entirely, another planet was under the dominion of a different empire, that of the Olympians. For various reasons, the rulers of this planet decided that they no longer wished to be subject to Olympian rule, and plotted to attack their so-called masters. To do this, they asked their populace to volunteer to be transformed into cyborg warriors who could more effectively battle against the Olympians' Spartoi. Thousands agreed, and embarked on their great revolution.
They were very successful, and if they were not the sole cause of the end of the Olympian empire, they certainly contributed to it. Yet as they fought across countless worlds and endless years, dissatisfaction with their leaders -- who had, after all, remained behind, and sacrificed nothing for the cause -- began to grow among them. At last, after their successful assault on the moon now called Ganymede, their commanders sought to gain permission to return to their home world and recuperate for a time. This request was denied.
They therefore returned anyway, fired upon by the planetary defenses that made it very clear that they were regarded as enemies of the world they'd fought and figuratively bled to defend. In a blind fury, they descended on their home world not as soldiers seeking rest and recuperation, but as merciless invaders and conquerors, slaughtering those who stood in their way regardless of whether they were combatants or civilians. They made their way to the commander in chief, an ancient man sitting in a wheelchair, and prepared to execute their greatest enemy.
Their weapons refused to fire, and the old man laughed. Everything had been done according to his design. The voices in the night that kindled the cyborg's dissatisfaction had been his. The order to deny them the chance to return home had been his. The weapons which had attacked them and driven them to their rage had been his. And from the very beginning, their systems had been programmed so that they could never harm
him. "You have all fulfilled my will perfectly, my Destrons," he said, naming them. "Now would you kindly finish the extermination?"
Within a week, the Maker was the only living thing, other than the Destrons, on their home planet. He then sent them on to other worlds, replacing their fallen with clones implanted into newly built cyborg frames, conquering an empire for himself out of the ruins of the Olympians' realm -- a sterile realm where worlds existed only to support factories for the creation of more Destrons. Despite his best efforts, however, the Maker's attempts at life extension only granted him a few centuries of life. But by that point, the Destrons no longer remembered any existence but their war of extermination.
Yet theirs is a strange war, fought in four dimensions. The last great discovery of their Maker was a method of time travel, which only functioned within a planet's gravity well, and they have sent their armies forward in time to invade worlds throughout history. Kapech is their beachhead in the current era. Far in the future, they have often been opposed by Exelion, who may understand more of their nature than any other figure in all of time and space. If he knew that they were invading in the present, he would urge Earth's superheroes to assist the tyrannical Crimson Imperium to oppose their invasion. But it may already be too late.
The following are the most commonly known Destron units, those depicted in the illustration above. There are many other kinds.
Extermination Unit -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR -2/6 |
STA 4 |
AGL -2/4 |
DEX 0/6 |
FGT 0/8 |
INT 2 |
AWE 6 |
PRE -1
Powers:
Exoskeleton: Removable (-22 points)
*
Advanced Sensors: Senses 12 (extended analytical vision, darkvision, direction sense, distance sense, tracking infravision, accurate radio, time sense, ultra-hearing) - 12 points
*
Duraluminum Chassis: Enhanced Agility 6; Enhanced Dexterity 6; Enhanced Fighting 8; Enhanced Strength 8; Impervious Protection 8 - 72 points
*
Encrypted Comms: Radio Communication 4, Limited to Destrons, Subtle - 13 points
*
Nanite Repair Systems: Regeneration 5 - 5 points
*
Sealed Systems: Immunity 10 (life support) - 10 points
Advantages:
Assessment, Close Attack, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Equipment 5, Precise Attack 2 (ranged, both), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 3, Startle, Weapon Break
Equipment:
Blaster Rifle (Ranged Multiattack Damage 8, Accurate)
Skills:
Deception 6 (+5), Intimidation 8 (+7), Investigation 2 (+4), Perception 2 (+8), Technology 4 (+6), Vehicles 2 (+8)
Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 6)
Blaster Rifle +11 (Ranged Damage 8)
Defense:
Dodge 8/2, Parry 8/0, Fortitude 8, Toughness 12/4, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 14 + Powers 90 + Advantages 16 + Skills 12 + Defenses 9 = 141 points
Complications:
Annihilation--Motivation. Subject to Orders. Weakness (Paralyzed by Nullify Technology).
Artillery Support Unit - PL 11
Abilities:
STR -2/10 | STA 4/6 | AGL -2/4 | DEX 0/6 | FGT 0/8 | INT 2 | AWE 6 | PRE -1
Powers:
Large Exoskeleton: Removable (-30 points)
*
Advanced Sensors: Senses 12 (extended analytical vision, darkvision, direction sense, distance sense, tracking infravision, radio, time sense, ultra-hearing) - 12 points
*
Autoblaster Cannons: Ranged Multiattack Damage 9, Accurate 2 - 29 points
*
Duraluminum Chassis: Enhanced Agility 6; Enhanced Dexterity 6; Enhanced Fighting 8; Enhanced Strength 8; Permanent Growth 2 (+2 Strength, +2 Stamina, -1 Dodge, -1 Parry, +1 Intimidation, -2 Stealth), Innate; Impervious Protection 9 - 81 points
*
Encrypted Comms: Radio Communication 4, Limited to Destrons, Subtle - 13 points
*
Nanite Repair Systems: Regeneration 5 - 5 points
*
Sealed Systems: Immunity 10 (life support) - 10 points
Advantages:
Assessment, Close Attack, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Ranged Attack 3, Startle.
Skills:
Intimidation 10 (+10), Investigation 2 (+4), Perception 2 (+8), Technology 4 (+6).
Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +9 (Damage 10)
Autoblaster Cannons +13 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 9)
Defense:
Dodge 7/2, Parry 7/0, Fortitude 10/8, Toughness 15/4, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 14 + Powers 120 + Advantages 8 + Skills 9 + Defenses 9 = 160 points
Complications:
Annihilation--Motivation. Subject to Orders. Very Heavy. Weakness (Paralyzed by Nullify Technology).
Air Support Unit -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR -2/6 |
STA 4/6 |
AGL -2/4 |
DEX 0/6 |
FGT 0/6 |
INT 2 |
AWE 6 |
PRE -1
Powers:
Large Exoskeleton: Removable (-31 points)
*
Advanced Sensors: Senses 14 (extended analytical vision, darkvision, direction sense, distance sense, tracking infravision, accurate radio, time sense, ultra-hearing) - 14 points
*
Autoblaster Cannons: Ranged Multiattack Damage 9, Accurate 2 - 29 points
*
Avionics: Flight 9 (1000 MPH) - 18 points
*
Duraluminum Chassis: Enhanced Agility 6; Enhanced Dexterity 6; Enhanced Fighting 6; Enhanced Strength 6; Permanent Growth 2 (+2 Strength, +2 Stamina, -1 Dodge, -1 Parry, +1 Intimidation, -2 Stealth), Innate; Impervious Protection 6 - 67 points
*
Encrypted Comms: Radio Communication 4, Limited to Destrons, Subtle - 13 points
*
Nanite Repair Systems: Regeneration 5 - 5 points
*
Sealed Systems: Immunity 10 (life support) - 10 points
Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Precise Attack 2 (ranged, both), Ranged Attack.
Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+7), Investigation 2 (+4), Perception 2 (+8), Technology 4 (+6)
Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 6)
Autoblaster Cannon +11 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 9)
Defense:
Dodge 8/3, Parry 6/1, Fortitude 10/8, Toughness 12/4, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 14 + Powers 125 + Advantages 7 + Skills 8 + Defenses 11 = 164 points
Complications:
Annihilation--Motivation. Slow Ground Movement. Subject to Orders. Weakness (Paralyzed by Nullify Technology).