American Gate

Chapter 3: The Battle

Published 9/2/23, revised 9/3/23

World Building

In the '20s and '30s robotics, automation and artificial intelligence became advanced to the point where humanoid robots were a common sight. Robots that mirrored the human physique were referred to as droids. There are strict regulations in place to ensure that droids and AI remain non sapient. If a droid or AI should ever gain self awareness, there are provisions in place to grant it full citizen rights, although this has never happened so far. Droids are also employed by law enforcement and the military.

Droids used by the military are far stronger and more durable than a human being. They are built with a bullet resistant chassis and enhanced servo motors, granting a high degree of agility and resilience. They have built in 360 degree visual, thermal and night vision sensors, giving them uncanny situational awareness; it is virtually impossible to approach a droid undetected. Droids are highly effective in close quarters combat or when a situation is deemed too risky to deploy human soldiers. They are programmed with an enhanced AI, capable of making its own tactical decisions and operating with minimal human input, although they are usually controlled by a human operator when possible.

In 2053, soldiers of the United States Armed Forces were deployed with a pair of tactical glasses known as a tac visor. The tac visor is an augmented reality system that performs a variety of useful functions. Tac visors help soldiers see in obscured conditions, highlight points of interest, provide aim assistance, etc. Tac visors can connect to nearby AIs and droids to receive coordinated tactical information to display to the soldier.

During the African Wars, the United States needed a long range armored transport vehicle to move its soldiers across the vast African landscape. The HV43 Rhino was the solution to this problem. The Rhino is an 8x8 heavy infantry combat transport that comes equipped with a hybrid diesel-electric engine. The interior floor panels can be removed and flipped over to reveal solar panels. This allows the Rhino to recharge its electric batteries in the field, giving it a theoretically unlimited range, at least in terms of fuel.

A Rhino can transport a total of twelve soldiers, an integrated AI and an additional four droids. The command cabin of a Rhino has four seats: a driver, a gunner, an equipment operator, and a commander. Although the integrated AI can perform all of these functions on its own if necessary, there is usually still a full crew in the command cabin. The crew compartment of the Rhino has space for eight soldiers.

The front of the Rhino has an angular flat faced design. The command cabin is located at the front of the vehicle and has six periscopes across the width of the vehicle at different angles. The driver has a 180 degree field of view around the front of the vehicle. Above the command cabin on the left is an active denial system, and on the right, a M4 .50 caliber machine gun. There are two top hatches in the command cabin. One grants the gunner manual access to the .50 caliber machine gun, while the other is located in the center and allows crew members to get a better view of the surrounding area when not in combat. Behind the middle hatch is a laser point defense system. Below the command cabin are the front four wheels.

Behind the front wheels are four exterior droid canopies, two on each side of the vehicle. This allows the Rhino to always carry four easily deployable droids. The canopies are protected by horizontally sliding garage style doors. Between the two droid canopies are several footholds granting access to the top of the vehicle.

An 80 mm cannon is placed slightly behind the droid canopies on the top of the vehicle. The main hatch is located at the rear of the vehicle. Above the main rear hatch is a mortar. The Rhino also has several grenade launchers across its armor plating that can be fitted with grenades, smoke grenades, or tear gas canisters.