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Description

Image inspired by: pre00.deviantart.net/b576/th/p…

Background:

The Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I (also known as the Vulture-class droid starfighter or simply as the vulture droid) was a droid starfighter used by the Trade Federation. Later, in much greater numbers, it was utilized by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. It participated heavily in the Clone Wars, at engagements such as the Battles of Kamino and Coruscant. Like most of the Trade Federation's armed forces, it carried no living pilot, but rather a droid brain that was linked to a central control computer, often aboard a Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship. Each Trade Federation battleship carried 1,500 such droid starfighters.

The Vulture-class ere designed by Haor Chall Engineering, which was founded by the fanatical Xi Char, a religious order dedicated to high-precision manufacturing. As a result, it represented classic Xi Charrian design— an insectoid appearance, multiple weapons emplacements, and a compact body that offered only a small target for enemy fighters.

The Mark I (Vulture-class) starfighter carried four blaster cannons and two energy torpedo launchers, and could reach 1200 kilometers per hour in a planet's atmosphere. When not in flight, the ship could transform into a walking weapons platform, used for ground patrol and troop support. While in this mode, a vulture droid could also latch onto surfaces in zero gravity, allowing it to launch directly from the external hull of a capital ship. The class featured thrust dampers, which if disabled forced starfighters to switch to the walker mode to operate. When docked in a hangar, they would often flex their components as part of self-maintenance. Vultures were also programmed to self-destruct if their link with their host control ship was severed. The ships were controlled via a Central Control Computer on a Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship.

A droid starfighter was capable of maneuvers that would kill an organic pilot, but they lacked the resourcefulness and cunning of living pilots, although they were capable of responding much faster. Vulture droids had an unusual fuel system, relying on solid-fuel concentrate slugs that provided propulsion upon ignition. However, they could only function for 35 minutes before having to be refueled. The Trade Federation solved this issue by sending Vulture droids into battle in timed, rotating swarms. Although they could react quicker to new situations than organic pilots, they had trouble responding to friendly units firing on them, a weakness Mace Windu exploited on Haarun Kal and the Battle of Coruscant. Vulture droids were also capable of communication with one another, normally with chattering. In addition to this, it is safe to assume Vulture-class droids were capable of communicating with other battle droids, as shown during the Jedi's visit to the Saak'ak, Nute Gunray's flagship. Vulture droid starfighters were usually named by a six-digit designation number, consisting of DFS- and a three-digit alpha-numeric combination, as illustrated by the fighters DFS-1VR and DFS-4CT.

Vulture-class fighters were launched in overwhelming numbers and excelled in both atmospheric and space combat. The vulture droid's weapon systems consisted of four blaster cannons with two per wing. In standard flight format, the drone's wings were collapsed to conceal its blaster cannons. In combat, these wings split up to reveal these blaster cannons. In addition, the droid possessed two energy torpedo launchers that would weaken enemy targets before the starfighter delivered a blaster cannon barrage.In walker-mode, the Vulture-class could only use its two torpedo launchers as its cannons were situated on the legs and pointed downwards. During the Clone Wars, vulture droids were modified to carry six blaster cannons and four buzz droid discord missiles instead of energy torpedoes, however it's more than likely that they could carry other types of missiles. The Vulture droid design was used to produce the Hyena-class bomber, another type of automated droid starfighter used by the Separatist Alliance. The Vulture-class fighters, at least by the time of the Battle of Coruscant, also developed at least some capability of speech, as several were heard making statements in Neimoidian before making various maneuvers.

During the Clone Wars, the Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I saw different updates and new models following. All produced by Baktoid Armor Workshop and Haor Chall Engineering sometimes in corporation with other manufactures and worlds like the Valahari advanced Vulture-class droid starfighter with a advanced droid brain and heavier energy guns. The Solar Energy Vulture-class droid starfighters was the attempt of the Trade Federation to produce a cheaper variation that used Quadanium steel solar panels instead of the solid-fuel concentrate slugs that the original Vulture droids used. Unlike the original Mark I Vulture droid starfighter the Solar Energy Vulture-class could operate without ever refilling it's fuel or energy guns and was even able to store some of the sun energy in it's solar panel module. The last variation of the Mark I Vulture droid starfighter was the Two Headed/ Twin Vulture-class droid starfighter, that was actually two different starfigters that could fuse together. Unlike the original Mark I Vulture droid starfighter the Two Headed or Twin variation had eight blaster cannons and four buzz droid discord missiles, or four blaster cannons and two buzz droid discord missiles in each part when split apart. Whenever the Two Headed or Twin Vulture-class was attacked by a enemy it would split in two and while one part would be followed by the enemy the other could attack himself as his hunter.

The Mark II variation was the Buzzard-class droid starfighter that came in three different variations. The standard Buzzard-class droid starfighter had larger wings that provided him with more energy and allowed him to reach up to 1600 kilometers per hour in a planet's atmosphere. He also had a Two Headed/ Twin variation model with eight blaster cannons and four buzz droid discord missiles, as well as the slower Buzzard-class droid bomber that used energy bombs against the enemy.

The Mark III Harpyia-class droid starfighter came at the end of the Clone Wars and had the same equipment and abilities then the normal vulture-class, but was only two third it's size and therefore a much more agile, harder target. He also had a Two Headed/ Twin variation model that was even feared among the Jedi because it was so extreme fast and deadly. During the end of the Clone Wars the newest model known as the Ace/ Brain Harpyia was produced but never saw any action against the Republic, only against the Empire. The Ace/ Brain variation was build in cooperation with the Techno Union and the first mass produced cyborg fighter/ bomber of the Confederacy. Instead of his droid brain the Ace/ Brain variation used cyborg technology linked with the brain of former skilled separatist organic pilots whose bodies were deadly damaged during battles. Placing their brains in a brain Jar and directly putting them in control of the Ace/ Brain Harpyia this variation had the intuition and abilities of every organic pilot combined with the advanced possibilities and maneuvers only droid starfighters were capable of. This made the Ace/ Brain Harpyia into one of the deadliest starfighters ever created in the galactic history. It even stood a chance against skilled Jedi pilots, earning it the nickname of Jedi hunter/killer.

The great success of the Ace/ Brain Harpyia lead to new development of Separatist Fighters and Bombers were the Neimoidian Data Goggles and later the Neural Interface Device crated out of them allowed skilled pilots to remote control the a single fighter/ bomber or even a wing of them from a separatist control/command ship/ space-station or even from a complex on the surface or in a bunker on a world. All Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droids came with a additional engine adapter that had more fuel and was able to jump small distances (a few systems) in hyperspace, but made the fighters/ bombers slower in subspace and more likely to be hid and explode thanks to a bigger target and the highly flammable fuel and reactor addition that was not very well armored because of the costs. This lead to very few Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droids ever getting the engine adapter, mostly when they needed them for special long-range missions or surprising hyperspace jump ambushes/ attacks.

Description

Image inspired by: pre00.deviantart.net/b576/th/p…

Background:

The Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I (also known as the Vulture-class droid starfighter or simply as the vulture droid) was a droid starfighter used by the Trade Federation. Later, in much greater numbers, it was utilized by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. It participated heavily in the Clone Wars, at engagements such as the Battles of Kamino and Coruscant. Like most of the Trade Federation's armed forces, it carried no living pilot, but rather a droid brain that was linked to a central control computer, often aboard a Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship. Each Trade Federation battleship carried 1,500 such droid starfighters.

The Vulture-class ere designed by Haor Chall Engineering, which was founded by the fanatical Xi Char, a religious order dedicated to high-precision manufacturing. As a result, it represented classic Xi Charrian design— an insectoid appearance, multiple weapons emplacements, and a compact body that offered only a small target for enemy fighters.

The Mark I (Vulture-class) starfighter carried four blaster cannons and two energy torpedo launchers, and could reach 1200 kilometers per hour in a planet's atmosphere. When not in flight, the ship could transform into a walking weapons platform, used for ground patrol and troop support. While in this mode, a vulture droid could also latch onto surfaces in zero gravity, allowing it to launch directly from the external hull of a capital ship. The class featured thrust dampers, which if disabled forced starfighters to switch to the walker mode to operate. When docked in a hangar, they would often flex their components as part of self-maintenance. Vultures were also programmed to self-destruct if their link with their host control ship was severed. The ships were controlled via a Central Control Computer on a Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship.

A droid starfighter was capable of maneuvers that would kill an organic pilot, but they lacked the resourcefulness and cunning of living pilots, although they were capable of responding much faster. Vulture droids had an unusual fuel system, relying on solid-fuel concentrate slugs that provided propulsion upon ignition. However, they could only function for 35 minutes before having to be refueled. The Trade Federation solved this issue by sending Vulture droids into battle in timed, rotating swarms. Although they could react quicker to new situations than organic pilots, they had trouble responding to friendly units firing on them, a weakness Mace Windu exploited on Haarun Kal and the Battle of Coruscant. Vulture droids were also capable of communication with one another, normally with chattering. In addition to this, it is safe to assume Vulture-class droids were capable of communicating with other battle droids, as shown during the Jedi's visit to the Saak'ak, Nute Gunray's flagship. Vulture droid starfighters were usually named by a six-digit designation number, consisting of DFS- and a three-digit alpha-numeric combination, as illustrated by the fighters DFS-1VR and DFS-4CT.

Vulture-class fighters were launched in overwhelming numbers and excelled in both atmospheric and space combat. The vulture droid's weapon systems consisted of four blaster cannons with two per wing. In standard flight format, the drone's wings were collapsed to conceal its blaster cannons. In combat, these wings split up to reveal these blaster cannons. In addition, the droid possessed two energy torpedo launchers that would weaken enemy targets before the starfighter delivered a blaster cannon barrage.In walker-mode, the Vulture-class could only use its two torpedo launchers as its cannons were situated on the legs and pointed downwards. During the Clone Wars, vulture droids were modified to carry six blaster cannons and four buzz droid discord missiles instead of energy torpedoes, however it's more than likely that they could carry other types of missiles. The Vulture droid design was used to produce the Hyena-class bomber, another type of automated droid starfighter used by the Separatist Alliance. The Vulture-class fighters, at least by the time of the Battle of Coruscant, also developed at least some capability of speech, as several were heard making statements in Neimoidian before making various maneuvers.

During the Clone Wars, the Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I saw different updates and new models following. All produced by Baktoid Armor Workshop and Haor Chall Engineering sometimes in corporation with other manufactures and worlds like the Valahari advanced Vulture-class droid starfighter with a advanced droid brain and heavier energy guns. The Solar Energy Vulture-class droid starfighters was the attempt of the Trade Federation to produce a cheaper variation that used Quadanium steel solar panels instead of the solid-fuel concentrate slugs that the original Vulture droids used. Unlike the original Mark I Vulture droid starfighter the Solar Energy Vulture-class could operate without ever refilling it's fuel or energy guns and was even able to store some of the sun energy in it's solar panel module. The last variation of the Mark I Vulture droid starfighter was the Two Headed/ Twin Vulture-class droid starfighter, that was actually two different starfigters that could fuse together. Unlike the original Mark I Vulture droid starfighter the Two Headed or Twin variation had eight blaster cannons and four buzz droid discord missiles, or four blaster cannons and two buzz droid discord missiles in each part when split apart. Whenever the Two Headed or Twin Vulture-class was attacked by a enemy it would split in two and while one part would be followed by the enemy the other could attack himself as his hunter.

The Mark II variation was the Buzzard-class droid starfighter that came in three different variations. The standard Buzzard-class droid starfighter had larger wings that provided him with more energy and allowed him to reach up to 1600 kilometers per hour in a planet's atmosphere. He also had a Two Headed/ Twin variation model with eight blaster cannons and four buzz droid discord missiles, as well as the slower Buzzard-class droid bomber that used energy bombs against the enemy.

The Mark III Harpyia-class droid starfighter came at the end of the Clone Wars and had the same equipment and abilities then the normal vulture-class, but was only two third it's size and therefore a much more agile, harder target. He also had a Two Headed/ Twin variation model that was even feared among the Jedi because it was so extreme fast and deadly. During the end of the Clone Wars the newest model known as the Ace/ Brain Harpyia was produced but never saw any action against the Republic, only against the Empire. The Ace/ Brain variation was build in cooperation with the Techno Union and the first mass produced cyborg fighter/ bomber of the Confederacy. Instead of his droid brain the Ace/ Brain variation used cyborg technology linked with the brain of former skilled separatist organic pilots whose bodies were deadly damaged during battles. Placing their brains in a brain Jar and directly putting them in control of the Ace/ Brain Harpyia this variation had the intuition and abilities of every organic pilot combined with the advanced possibilities and maneuvers only droid starfighters were capable of. This made the Ace/ Brain Harpyia into one of the deadliest starfighters ever created in the galactic history. It even stood a chance against skilled Jedi pilots, earning it the nickname of Jedi hunter/killer.

The great success of the Ace/ Brain Harpyia lead to new development of Separatist Fighters and Bombers were the Neimoidian Data Goggles and later the Neural Interface Device crated out of them allowed skilled pilots to remote control the a single fighter/ bomber or even a wing of them from a separatist control/command ship/ space-station or even from a complex on the surface or in a bunker on a world. All Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droids came with a additional engine adapter that had more fuel and was able to jump small distances (a few systems) in hyperspace, but made the fighters/ bombers slower in subspace and more likely to be hid and explode thanks to a bigger target and the highly flammable fuel and reactor addition that was not very well armored because of the costs. This lead to very few Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droids ever getting the engine adapter, mostly when they needed them for special long-range missions or surprising hyperspace jump ambushes/ attacks.