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The Battleball is the standard Norb general-purpose infantry platform. Deployed in larger numbers than other combat platforms, they lack specialization and form the backbone of anti-infantry strategies. Their variable weaponry and size allows multiple types of Battleball to be deployed in combat situations, normally via high-altitude or orbital drop. Battleballs are sometimes carried by a Battleblade team for stealth insertions from the air. Battleballs are the primary infantry platforms employed by BURN due to their versatility, relatively low cost and high survivability, and compatibility with a wide array of weapons.
Overview[]
The Battleball is an amphibious ball-shaped robotic Norb platform that swims over water, traverses hazardous terrain, and engages opponents. Battleballs use multi-axis stabilization, an internal pendulum motion propulsion system that moves the bot forward by shifting the center of gravity back and forth, and a variety of steering algorithms to traverse battlefields. The Battleball comes in a variety of standard sizes, with some as small as ten centimeters and as large as three meters in diameter, and their capabilities adjusted to accommodate for the new size. Each side of the Battleball houses a weapons platform that does not rotate with the main body, allowing it to face the same direction as the main unit rolls.
The standard primary weapon of the Battleball is an extremely powerful high-energy electrolaser that has a relatively long recharge rate, while its side armament is a much less damaging Pulsed Energy Projectile Radiator (PEPR). The Battleball utilizes its electrolaser to take out heavily armored units, while its PEPR lets it provide covering fire, take on lightly-armored targets, or ignite terrain and fortifications.
Battleballs house several small explosive platforms, which can be ejected from a port and utilized as grenades or timed/remote detonators. An internal last-resort explosive charge utilizes the battleball's capacitors, causing a short-range electromagnetic pulse and creating a cloud of high-velocity shrapnel from its destroyed chassis. This allows Battleballs that have been disabled to remain capable of functioning as a mine.
Its thick metal-carbon hybrid outer armor gives it protection from penetration, both from weapons fire and terrain, while its naturally-sloped casing can redirect rounds. The chassis of a Battleball is designed to make its metallic enclosure function as electromagnetic shielding, redirecting absorbed charge energy into a ground point as it rotates. The rubber-like composite polymers used in the construction of its outer shell give it superior traction and handling, while giving it increased thermal resistivity and ablative properties. Due to the ever-rotating nature of the outer shell causing the target point to constantly shift, continuous-emission direct-energy weapons are disadvantaged.