Vehicles

Vehicle Name

Stalker Drone (SV-SM-2)

Vehicle Type

Semi-Autonomous Attack Drone

Location

Both

Vehicle Height

3.1m (10ft)

Vehicle Length

2.33m (7.55ft)

Vehicle Width

2.44m (8ft)

Vehicle Weight

927kg (2,043.7lbs)

Vehicle Speed

35.4kmh 22mph

Vehicle Powerplant

Kursk / Keeler PR-S-12

Vehicle Range

Unknown

Vehicle Crew

N/A

Vehicle Passengers

None

Vehicle Armament

2 x 10mm A2 Rail-Guns (Chain Cutters)

Vehicle Description

Developed after examples of the AV-4 Exploration drones had been used during the house-clearing operations during the First Ghost Incursion. The success of these units (which had been gerry-rigged with light energy weapons or plasma-throwers) led Exile engineers to design a military variant, which would ultimately become the SV-SM-2 'Stalker' Drones.

Operation

Well-armed and armoured, these semi-autonomous gun-carriages had excellent mobility and stealth capabilities.

The Exiles would send them into a building that was suspected of housing some ghost threat, and the Stalkers would walk the floors, clearing the rooms as they went.

Able to operate singly or in small packs, the Stalkers proved to be fearsome fighting machines, and it was only their complexity and the Exiles' limited production capabilities that prevented them becoming a major offensive force.

In fact, during the sieges of the American Entry-Points, one Exile commander, running short on men, released several Stalkers into the battle-zone around the Devil's Rock E.P. and pulled his troops off the front-line (the Stalker had limited Friend-or-foe identification systems, and were notorious for attacking their own men).

It is said that a pack of five Stalkers infiltrated the compounds around the E.P. and proceeded to hunt down the American troops, who had held out stubbornly throughout the fighting. The panic that ensued amongst the retreating troops led to all five Stalkers passing through the Entry-Point, running amok in the Research Facility itself.

Seizing the opportunity, the Exile commander had ordered his Wraiths to attack, Field-shifting units into the Facility and destroying any pockets of resistance that had organised against the drones. The base was completely destroyed with minimal Exile losses.

To deter any rebuilding programme, it is said that the Exiles left the remaining Stalkers to roam the Facility, searching for any troops that might be foolish enough to return.