I don't recall anyone actually linking to Teletran like that, except maybe Soundwave through a wire. They usually contacted him through com equipment or treated him like a computer. I figure he'd be more a non-converting drone since in the animation he did launch and control a satellite drone to rebuild the transformers.
True. The goal I would want is that the Automech when connecting through a 'deep link' would need to form a much larger connection surface than normal, thus the linking unit needing another transformation mode. It wouldn't be like wearing the full body of the drone as their own, just boosting one critical area at a time. So if there was an underwater threat, the linked unit could take the data from the sonar array to have a better chance at spotting the target, but the drone uses its on Gunnery when firing. Or the linked unit tells the drone to scan for underwater threats, and if the drone spots the target the linked Automech uses its own Gunnery skill on the LRT. A single linked unit cannot provide its bonus to the sonar and the LRT on the same tactical turn though.
Another comparison might be the game Five Nights at Freddy's, where you are one person watching through a dozen security cameras and needing to open and close doors at the correct times. The Automech is a separate unit from the drone, is getting data from the drone, can focus on different locations one at a time, but cannot move while linked in and is limited to the drone's capabilities.
If it's just controlling weaponry or using another drone to spot for them, it sounds like some kind of C3 Tech. That could be some kind of quirk since some units in older TROs did have abilities like that. They were just more limited than a full C3 system.
In this case it is using the other drone's sensors to spot, and the other drone's weapons to shoot. The key is that Soundwave is using its better CPU/Gunnery skill vs a single target, and can swap its attention to any target in range and the appropriate gun rapidly. If the drone had been designed with better computer systems to begin with, Soundwave wouldn't need to connect directly.
C3 is not available for the Syberian Automechs, so I couldn't use that.
I guess you could compare it to a drone control system, just controlling a drone larger than itself and needing a direct physical connection.
We did discuss Headmaster and Targetmaster units earlier, but as far as the "canon" for Syberians goes (such as it is), I envisioned they never achieved it there. Plus, they--and the Powermasters--were basically a combiner variation, which I didn't dare approach beyond the concept of coordinated teams. Instead of merging for the kill, Team Constructor just triangulates its six members really well against an enemy and hits them from all sides at once.
The Syberians, while capable of some degree of learning, are not capable of innovating when it comes to tech, however. Everything they create is based on specs their long-dead human masters left them with.
- Herb
True, it would need one of them to take the idea of "connect with a small drone" and change that to "connect with a large drone". From there they would have to search their history for larger designs, and then develop an interface for it. The first interface would be the drone extending a connection to fit inside the controlling unit, and the Automechs would eventually have to make the leap to having the connection on the outside of the Automech rather than the inside (though this would need a dedicated mode so would take even longer).
