Subaltern

Robotic drones used for a variety of industrial, logistical, and military tasks, subalterns are a common sight across many worlds in and around Union space. Unlike other drones, subalterns tend to be humanoform in design, which allows them to interface with vehicles and tools already adapted for human use. As a result, while they may not have the advanced capabilities of more specialized, singlepurpose drone models, they are extremely flexible platforms.
Subalterns can be directed by either basic Comp/Con systems or NHPs, the latter of which sometimes use subalterns as physical avatars for moving around the world and interacting with people directly. Subaltern designs vary tremendously in tems of aesthetic and functional considerations. They range from near-human models with synthetic skin, musculature, and faces that lift them just out of the uncanny valley through to military models stripped of nonessential cosmetics in favor of robust superstructures, armor plating, hardened electronics, and aggressive postures.