Introducing H.E.C.T.O.R
by Juri Munkki

Another two months have passed and you are
faced with yet another preview of Avara.This 
time we'll take a look at what Avara is really all
about. 

In the not so distant future, biological warfare is
raging on terraformed planets of the human
sphere. A machine intelligence is out there to
wipe out biological life forms and their primary
weapon is ananotechnological virus that invades
and breaks up the cellular structure of Earth life. 

A new kind of remote controlled robot was
designed to prevent the loss of human lives. 

The Hostile Environment Combat andTactical
Operations Remote does not carry a human
operator, so if one is destroyed, a new one can
be issued and the same operator can gain from
he experience without having been hurt or killed. 

In addition to combat, HECTORs can be used to for exploration and repairs in areas that have become deadly to humans. Standing upright, a HECTOR is about 2 meters tall and depending on the model and configuration, the mass ranges from around 150 kg to around 220 kg. The small size allows it to operate in most spaces that have been designed for humans. Being bipedal and relatively light, it can easily climb stairs and jump up to several meters in the air (in standard gravity). 

There are three different kinds of payload and weapons modules available. The lightest one
provides very high mobility with the cost of slightly reduced weapons carrying capacity. The largest one is the "bomber" version and it can carry significantly more missiles and grenades than the two others, but the added space makes it heavier even after the weapons have been dispensed, so it is at a disadvantage in situations where high mobility is a requirement.