What the title says. For Onyx, the *only* choice is the Malignos FO. Are Onyx players required to run this trooper in those missions?
Another thread suggests you are not required to take it, but if you have a legitimate choice on your list you must deploy it as a liaison.
I suppose. We'll see what CB says. I hope it's not literally required. Or they could just allow Autotool to do it, since they're intelligent robots.
I can't imagine being forced to take one since as far as I can tell no mission gives point for killing the other players liaison officer.
I guess it depends on your definition of "required." To date, there has never been a mission that required anything beyond a lieutenant as a hard requirement. Though many missions have soft requirements in order to score. To be super pedantic, the rule states, "players must declare which troop possessing the Forward Observer Special Skill from their Army List is their Liaison Officer." If you don't have a valid troop, you can't declare.
Autotool is "limited AI" vs. the piloted remote of Remote Presence. We know from Human Sphere that the Xeodron Batroids have approximately human-level intelligence, one can assume that the other batroids do too.
Except the rule literally states in functions the same as G: RP, save for adding G: Mnemonica as allowing them to be taken. The fluff for both is very similar as well, with Autotool being described as “semi-autonomous tools” and RP for REMs as “a pseudo-AI and a suite of expert programs”. Now, it ought to be available for Autotool, but rather than any sort of fluff justification, simply to give OCF more than one option.
It also says they're based on the behavior patterns of the Ruaria, who were living, probably intelligent organisms. "Expert program" is something with a precise definition that we have today.
“Pets and hunting companions” implies, to me, something less than intelligence, and certainly not a level of intelligence to make an argument for them filling this role. Again, the fluff argument would also seem to indicate all of the various G: RP REMs would fit the bill. They *shouldn’t*, since their factions have plenty of options, while OCF has one outside of REMs.
I think the implication is more that the Ur enslaved a sentient race (or a subrace of their own, considering what they look like) and used them as pets and hunting companions.
Fluff wise Karakuris are AI controlled and they can do it because they are HI with G:Remote Presence and not REM.
The fluff say AI piloted. From Uprising: "The challenge was to design a more agile and resistant remote combat unit with an artificial intelligence sufficiently developed as to not need a field operator."
