Dextra

Dextra are mobile humanoid vehicles that are used in industry and warfare. They typically employ two arms to manipulate objects, two legs for propulsion, and a head containing sensors and main camera. They can be equipped with all manner of gear depending on the specific job they are tasked with performing. Combat Dextra stand approximately 60' tall, though the height may vary depending on the specific model.
The first Dextra were developed in 941 AC by a trio of grad students They were originally designed as powered exosuits which could aid in the maintenance of the massive spaceborne Habitats. Within a decade of their inception Dextra became inextricably linked to colonial industry, and within four decades they had begun to show promise in combat.

History

The first Dextra was completed in 949 AC, designed by Vichy Vindus, Oswal Penkenshrine, and Toshiko Suzuki, a trio of grad students from the Royal Institute of Interstellar Science and Technology on Nybil, a Habitat in the Tomino System. To date, Vindus claims that the original concept and design are his, and the patent filing is under his name alone, however scholars now credit Suzuki for constructing it mostly herself. Penkenshrine eventually became known for his development of the Flux Drive, which greatly advanced the capabilities of Dextra and exhibited a profound effect on all manners of transit across the galaxy.
Building upon the designs for bipedal freight loaders, the first Dextra - nicknamed "Rex" - stood 33' tall and consisted of a set of vise manipulators set around an open steel frame, and a pair of articulated legs with insets for the operator to stand in. Using a standard portable battery mounted on its back, it could be powered for up to 30 minutes depending on how vigorous the activity was. The umbilical allowed it to feed off the power of its mothership or station, but hampered maneuverability and limited its reach. A portable hydrogen fuel cell was developed which allowed it to be powered for up to 3 hours, however this came at a much greater cost. Rex's leg actuators could be controlled by the operator's movements, and a pair of control sticks inside the chassis linked to the vise manipulators and allowed positional adjustment through small pulse thrusters mounted on the legs and back. As Rex did not have a cockpit, the operator was required to wear an EVA suit.
After receiving the Humboldt D. Blumengrubnitz Award for Robotics and receiving several scientific grants, the trio worked to improve their design. A protective cockpit was added with a see-through hyperglass canopy similar to that of fightercraft. As more systems were added, the chassis was filled in and lightly armored plating was added to protect them from damage from drifting debris. Additional arm attachments were designed to serve various purposes, including a set of three-fingered hands that could replace the vise manipulators. Penkenshrine's final contribution, the flux drive, replaced the old battery packs and hydrogen fuel cells, and allowed autonomous use for a virtually unlimited amount of time.
In 958 AC, Penkenshrine parted ways with his former comrades to focus more on flux technology. By this time, Vindus had founded Vindus Industries and had begun manufacturing the first mass production Dextra model, the VD-100 Vega. The Vega saw modest sales, but it required a fair amount of upkeep or else it would break down, in addition to which parts were both expensive and difficult to replace, making it an investment that many Spacers found hard to justify. Suzuki worked to fix both problems with the ensuing models, and over the course of the next 30 years Vindustries' Dextra became known as robust workhorses that anyone with a modicum of mechanical knowledge could keep running. The first generation of Dextra produced by Vindustries would also include the immensely popular VD-500 Vulcan, which became the standard unit used for Habitat maintenance, and the VD-700 Prospector, which became widely used in mining operations as a galactic "gold rush" began in search of new sources of fluxium.
Up to this point, the combat prowess of Dextra had yet to be truly tested. They had been used against military forces with limited success in minor uprisings, and by marauders outside the reach of the Guild of Noble Houses. Jerryd the Dread Marauder was one of the first documented examples of the weaponization Dextra, as he modified the mining lasers in Prospector models to be used in terrorist activities on the Perimeter.
In 989 AC, Union troops on the run after the failed Lightning Campaign utilized Dextra against Alliance forces in and around the colonies they took refuge in, bringing to light their incredible combat abilities. Their enhanced maneuverability and versatility made them a serious threat to the more primitive fleets of the prior era, and they became one of the main weapons used by both sides of the Galactic Civil War as they raced against one another to build stronger and more advanced units.

A Squad of DXM-11 Furies descending

The DXM-11 Fury is a mass production model combat Dextra deployed by the Planetary Liberation Union Navy.