The Cylons have evolved since we last saw them some twenty yarhens ago. As well as having a civil war, they have changed their philosophy regarding humans as well as specialising with their Centurions - they are now split into Warriors and Pilots. Humans are now captured if possible - killed if not - and converted into drones where they are allowed to serve the Cylon Empire in a productive manner.
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Warriors
Cylon Warriors have become meaner and tougher. Their skills have been updated to make them better shots and their casing has had additional armour added. The weaponry of the Cylon has been installed into the arms so that they can never be disarmed (the sword into the right arm, and the laser rifle into the left) and their attitude has been taken up a notch. However, the initiative of the Warrior has been turned down a step - they are now even more of a single-minded creature than before, and any free will has been totally eliminated. In addition to this, Warriors cannot pilot spacecraft of any type anymore; they are solely ground troops and marines.
ST: 18 DX: 8 IQ: 11 HT: 20
DR 24, Damage 1d+2/3d, BL 65 lbs., HP 20, Per 11.
Move 6, Speed 5.
Advantages/Disadvantages: Reputation (-4 vs all Colonials, all the time), Improved G-Tolerance (1G), Dark Vision
Skills: Armoury (Cylon Beam Weapons) 12, Beam weapons (Laser) 15, Brawling 13, Broadsword 15, Computer Operation 12, Demolition 10, Diagnose 10, Intimidation 13, Interrogation 12, Knife 14, Mechanic 10, Navigation 10, Spear 12, Tracking 12
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Pilots
Pilots are the Cylons that fly all the spacecraft of the Cylon Empire. Unlike their Warrior cousins, they are only lightly armoured, contain no inbuilt weapons and have not really had their ground combat software upgraded over time. However, their piloting skills have been improved and their shape has been refined to make the Cylons more dextrous and agile.
ST: 15 DX: 12 IQ: 11 HT: 16
DR 20, Damage 1d+1/2d+1, BL 45 lbs., HP 16, Per 11.
Move 6, Speed 6
Advantages/Disadvantages: Reputation (-4 vs all Colonials, all the time), Improved G-Tolerance (1G), Night Vision
Skills: Armoury (Cylon Beam Weapons) 10, Beam weapons (Laser) 13, Brawling 12, Broadsword 13, Computer Operation 12, Demolition 10, Diagnose 10, Gunnery (Cylon Fighter Beam Weapons) 15, Intimidation 12, Interrogation 11, Knife 13, Mechanic 10, Navigation 12, Piloting (Cylon Fighter craft) 15, Spear 12, Tracking 10
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Human drones are people that have been captured and injected with Cylon nanobytes. These nanobytes make some alterations to the human host - for a start, they add circuitry to the brain to make it compatible with the Information Network. Secondly - and more importantly - they destroy any free will that the human might have. Thus they make a perfect tool for the Cylon Empire, controllable and able to perform any tasks that they might be given. Indeed, human drones make such good tools that they are trusted with many important tasks, and they can even be found as controllers for the Cylon Empire, issuing orders on the Information Network itself.
Externally, a human drone looks a lot like their original human self, although with cybernetic implants dotted around their bodies - a product of the injected nanobytes. The eyes are where the chief change has occurred - now the drone has two flashing red eyes instead of their normal eyes. Some drones do undergo further changes and these drones are no longer distinguishable from normal Cylons.
Fully Converted Drone | |
It was Baltar who suggested the nanobyte treatment to the Cylons. After he was stranded from the Colonial Fleet, Baltar was picked up by the Cylons who were at a loss as to what to do with him. Whilst trying to convince them that humans could be useful to the Cylon Empire, he learnt that the Cylons hadn't actually killed everyone from the Colonials, and indeed, there were large numbers of humans still surviving as slaves, although troublesome ones. As a way to save his life as well as those of the surviving humans, Baltar suggested a way for the Cylons to remove the humans freewill, which was a source of their problems, and set himself up as the first test subject. Luckily for him, the experiment worked and the Cylons set about converting all other humans. This also had the side effect of causing the first civil war within the Cylon Empire as not everyone was for this idea and still wanted the humans exterminated.
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Whether or not the process is reversible remains to be seen.
Human Drones retain all their skills and attributes from their original life. The main change is that they no longer have any free will, no real initiative and are plugged into the Information Network and are thus controlled by others. They may gain some new skills depending on their new role within the Empire, but will not gain any of the benefits of being a Cylon, such as armour, unless they are totally converted. Drones do not act as Centurion Warriors or Pilots except in special circumstances, and thus will not normally be found in combat situations.
