Light Trooper

Light Trooper render

The Light Trooper (ライトトルーパー) is the basic stage enemy found in Strider (2014), designed after the original's Russian Infantryman.

The Light Troopers are an unit of mass-produced androids serving as the backbone of Meio's Army, dispatched in large numbers to Kazakh City. They work in the front lines as the police force in the civilian districts, where they are visible everywhere enforcing Meio's oppressive rule under the pretense of maintaining security. Installed with autonomous AIs, these machines have a level of conscient thought, and can talk (in both Russian and English) to their targets, recognize speech, and follow any given instruction faithfully. Note that they are almost always, if not always altogether, identified with human reference by higher-ranking personalities in Kazakh City during their various public announcements, which suggests an effort by Meio's regime to make these troopers appear as humans to Kazakh City's general populace.

The production of Light Troopers is carried on in the Robotics Manufacturing section within the large Research Facility, under the watchful eye of Professor Schlange. Light Troopers served as the base model from where the more advanced Shield, Military and Research Troopers were developed.

Models

Peshka

Peshka

Peshka (from Russian пешка, Pawn) is the simplest model of Light Trooper, found standing guard in the Kazakh Outskirts, the civilian districts and the Processing and Underground sections.

These models are equipped with light armor and a Custom Rifle, making them easy to take down. When confronted, Peshkas will either shoot from its place or attempt to move away while shooting at Hiryu, using the bayonet in their rifle to strike at him if he gets close enough. While most Peshkas choose to fire their rifles semi-automatically, some would shoot in burst mode, which allows them to unleash a rapid stream of bullets at Hiryu instead of a single shot.

Peshkas are usually found in groups making their rounds, and don't notice Hiryu until he gets close enough. It's possible to catch them off guard if one moves fast enough, destroying them before they can retaliate.

Groza

Groza

Groza (from Russian гроза, Terror), or Shotgun Trooper (ショットガントルーパー), is a specialized soldier unit in Meio's Army equipped with customized shotgun.

The Groza model have been built with a greater emphasis in power at short distances and a wider area of effect over accuracy, showing off their strength best in close-quarter firefights. When confronted, the Groza shoots a wide spread shot towards Hiryu while closing in on him. While harder to avoid than the Peshka's rapid-fire shots, they have a much slower rate of fire and their attack loses effectiveness at longer distances.

Grozas are lightly armored, and as easy to eliminate as a normal Peshka.

UMT-1

UMT-1

UMT-1, or Missile Trooper (ミサイルトルーパー), is a reinforced Trooper unit equipped with upgraded armor plating and a large and powerful missile launcher as its primary weapon.

The UMT-1's missiles appear to be capable of tracking organic targets, allowing them to shoot down any intruder jumping carelessly across the sky with tracking missiles. They are harder to deal with when compared with the Peshka or Groza units, due to their increased armor and the homing missiles which Hiryu can't reflect back with his Cypher.

Zanteps

Zanteps

Zanteps, or Sniper Trooper (スナイパートルーパー), is a Trooper unit which has underwent special adjustment to specialize in sniping techniques . Only a select number of Troopers within Meio's Army have received this programming, making it the smallest unit in size.

Zanteps units wield a powerful Sniper Rifle with a laser sight, and are usually found nested in hard-to-reach areas. When Hiryu enters their vision, the Zanteps charges up a powered shot while tracking his movements with the laser sight, then lets go a powerful blast at him. The laser sight indicates the path of the bullet, helping one in determining its trajectory and avoiding it, though Zanteps charges up the next shot shortly afterwards.

Zanteps tend to attack from long distances and have better vision than the other models, being able to snipe Hiryu from off-screen. Due to their accuracy they are also hard to approach, specially when faced in groups.

Gallery

Light Trooper concept art

Light Trooper's weaponry

Two Light Troopers standing guard

Attacking Hiryu