File:FaceoffFembot - M1 AHC.png

MODEL: KAY MORGAN

Designed and manufactured in AB 1 by the ever-patriotic NADC (National Anthrotronic Defense Concern) of the UPSA (United Private State of Andromeda), the M1 AHC (Autonomous Humanoid Combattant) was the first mass-deployed self-controlled robotic troop in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Following the Great Waste, all the major governing authorities of the Andromeda Galaxy ratified the Treaty to Ensure the Continued Survival of Humankind in the Andromeda Galaxy (more commonly referred today as the Tecshag treaty), that forbade any further military and paramilitary action that that may result in human casualties, along with the direct deployment of human personnel in potential theaters of conflict, removing human soldiers entirely from direct combat. As a result, the arms race for autonomous robotic soldiers blew up overnight.

The nationalist and militaristic UPSA were the first in the breach, thanks to their precocious military-industrial complex and fusion of private capital and government, meaning that funds for a design needed no state approval and that massive manufacturing capabilities were already well underway. Taking inspiration from EVA maintenance drones, the M1 AHC was built off a solid base of mechanic redundancy and streamlined, reliable design, a philosophy that later fell in disfavor of feature creep and cutting costs.

Despite enjoying some of the most recent advancements of the day, the M1 AHC still fell behind its lofty design goals. To ensure the autonomy and additional processing power necessary to a military-grade robot, a clunky built-in backpack was added, and even then the more complex tactical and strategic calculations were off-loaded by radio to rear-echelon supercomputers. Public relationships were also poor due to the units' stiff rubber faces, lackluster social programming, integral suits, apparent electronics, and built-in visor goggles, a design shortcut after the failure to come up with an aesthetically-satisfactory design for a multi-spectral eye-camera. They however made for great propaganda material, thanks to their distinctive and patriotic iconography.

Built before the advent of dedicated anti-robotics ordnance, the M1 AHC replaced the anti-radiation insulated covering of its space-borne forebearers with a puncture-resistant sealed suit, a thick padding of military-grade impact-dispersing gel, and embedded metallic alloy plates, as the directed-energy weapons that would later wreak havoc on poorly shielded circuitry were basically unheard of in infantry combat back then. Similarly, the standard firearm issued to these units had more in common with light machine guns than assault rifles, as only sustained high-caliber fire was deemed efficient against robotic infantry, with combat being describable in short as saturating the air with automatic fire until one side yielded by being reduced to fine metallic particles.

Ancient by today's standard and discarded by the NADC in favor of shinier, more expensive products and a constant need for prodctivity and economic growth, the M1 AHC is still in wide use in the more disadvantaged parts of the UPSA, and wherever the galactic black market got a hold of them. As total replacement by the M2 AHC rolled out, entire batches of units, still under factory wrap, and accompanying spare parts and accessories were wholly discarded, mothballed into half-forgotten hangars that easily slipped from greased hands. As such, the M1 AHC still deserves more than an historic place in the pantheon of combat gynoids.

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