State of the Commonwealth - Mandragoran Hunter-Killer Datafile!

Suspicion of the presence of the Mandragoran is enough to mobilize defence forces, cause sleepless nights, and provide ample fuel for tavern tales and horror stories alike. Once they might have been human, or at least humanoid, but they have moved beyond the confines of the flesh. The Mandragoran are masters of transference, able to move their consciousness from one host to another one prepared for the purpose. Some are organic, others synthetic, but all are malevolent, at least in the bulk of their dealings with the Commonwealth.

Mandragoran Hunter Killers have been encountered, thankfully infrequently, in distant corners of Edgespace, often planted on derelict ships, isolated moons or asteroids, even, rarely, appearing to terrorize remote colonies, mining operations or the like.

The why of their deployment, if indeed the Mandragoran actually do deploy them, is not understood. Some theorize that the Mandragoran employ them as some sort of security for locales or items they find significant in some unguessed way. Others suggest that the HKs are dropped simply to sow fear and discord. What is known is that the lethal synths are bound by a strange code known as Hunt Law.

The Known Tenets of Hunt Law are these, though it is readily admitted that this list may be incomplete or inaccurate in crucial details:

1. A Hunt must be begun with a Mark, which must be made known to the Hunted. Generally this is accomplished by a Mark Laser, a weapon of some power itself, that ‘tags’ the hunted, and alerts them to their status in one action.
2. The Hunter Killer, having marked its quarry, will single-mindedly pursue it until it has killed it or is incapacitated. It will do so using all of its faculties, and functions as a fully autonomous synth in this regard.
3. HKs are bound to utter obedience to Hunt Law, and to their Mandragoran masters. They have a bonus to their mental defence against hacking of x4, rather than the usual x2 for an autonomous synth.
4. Those not being currently hunted are exempt fro attack until and unless they involve themselves in the Hunt. Doing so immediately causes them to be viewed henceforth like the Marked.

Notes:

• HKs are notoriously quick to react. Their Priority is x5.
• Something essentially equivalent of Tensor technology is at work in the melee attacks  [claws, tusks, and fangs] of an HK. Though the actual technology is very different, the results are a powerful armor-piercing melee attack.
• The Mark Laser, situated within the ‘throat’ of the HK, is both signalling device and weapon. Once a target is ‘Marked’ it registers to that HK regardless of it state, even disguised, hidden, or in media. Any Perceptions checks the HK must make to detect one of its Marks is at -10 difficulty.
• Each HK maintains its own catalogue of Marks. Should more than one HK be encountered, each will mark prey individually. Marks remain 'active' as long as the HK is viable.
• Many HKs leave a ‘calling card’ notification at the site of a successfully terminated Hunt. This usually will take the form of a datafile or storage device, often the hexagonal crystals associated with Mandragoran technology. This ‘calling card’ will contain full sensory files of the Hunt, and have been used on at least one occasion to track and eliminate the HK in question.
• On at least one occaison, a Hunter Killer was employed as a husk for a Mandragoran. This made for a much more dangerous foe than the already formidable synth HK.