Far larger than the Cupcake drone, the Poundcake is a heavy Optionally Manned Ground Vehicle designed to fill the role of main battle tank. Though the system is lighter weight that most comparable vehicles, it is still quite heavy and often requires special consideration during transport which ultimately led to its replacement by the Spongecake drone within the Magnetic Assembly.

Name: Poundcake Drone
Operators: The Magnetic Assembly
Manufacturer: The Magnetic Assembly (MA)

Length: 11.58 Meters
Width: 3.9 Meters
Height 3 Meters before including height of turret

Development of the Poundcake started in 2315 with the goal of producing a highly mobile ground vehicle similar to other main battle tanks of the time like the M-216 Paxton, but optimized for the difficult terrain of the Planet Hawking along with a light enough weight to be transported to areas in the Hawking Star system.

The initial design would go through numerous revisions and variations, including models with fully articulated legs and spherical wheels. A secondary team would develop weapon systems for the vehicle including a range of turrets that mounted everything from radars, to laser weapons, to ballistic missiles, providing a wide range of possible armaments'.

Ultimately the design would end up being too heavy in any configuration to be easily transported between planets. Similarly the ground pressure issues with spherical tires and mechanical leg articulation would mean the Poundcake would never quite live up to the project's mobility goals. The weapon systems themselves would also end up becoming obsolete as the range of surface to orbit weapons that were intended for the vehicle became unnecessary as the design would only see limited deployment near the city of New Cambridge which already had sufficient surface to orbit systems.

By 2319 development of the Poundcake was stopped in favor of a new clean-sheet design that would be light enough to transport. The Spongecake would go on to full the roles originally intended for the Poundcake.


In late 2320, after the New Years Revolution and re-alignment of the Magnetic Assembly towards the Soyuz, the Poundcake would see renewed development. The problematic spherical tires and leg articulation were replaced with 10 dual wheel mounts, with each wheel rotating independently and the entire wheel mount able to rotate 360 degrees. This allows the wheels to rotate to allow the vehicle to rapidly move in any direction much like the Spongecake drone. This would also solve the ground-pressure issue and allow the drone to carry a range of Soyez weaponry. The design would be optimized for cold weather use, and a space for a single crew member added in the front with the goal of providing the design and vehicle to the Soyez.

The Poundcake is designed to be heavy enough to carry armor, defensive systems, and weapon systems powerful enough to reach into orbit yet with enough mobility to conduct operations in low gravity, marshland, ice, and other difficult terrain.

The primary drive system uses 10 sets of dual wheels, providing enough buoyancy to float and carry the vehicle across marshlands, calm waters, and ice. The system is very much inspired by the one developed for the Spongecake, but is much more optimized for carrying heavy equipment.

Much like the Spongecake, the turret of the vehicle is also modular, and can be quickly swapped out so that the vehicle can serve a variety of roles.

The Poundcake drone (Or Optionally Manned Ground Vehicle) is designed to be operated like any other heavy vehicle. The vehicle can easily traverse typical roads and bridges, or can off road to get to difficult terrain or areas where the vehicle can wait in ambush. The role of the vehicle tends to depend on what equipment is is carrying, and this can include anything from being an early-warning radar system to battle tank, to air defense system.

The less used versions of the Poundcake employed early on used a variety of motive systems and weapons with the Mark 1 having spherical wheels and fully articulated legs, and the Mark 2 doing away with the legs but retaining the spherical wheels.

The Mark 3 version of the Poundcake was developed in late 2320, and replaces the more complex motor systems of the Mark 1 and 2 with a more streamlined array of wheels similar to those employed on the Spongecake Combat Drone. The front area is also streamlined and the overall battery size reduced so that a pilot-capsule can be located in the front behind the main armored plate.

Developed in 2320, the Poundcake-Buratino is a mark 3 Poundcake Drone equipped with a 26 shot rocket launcher for large scale artillery strikes. It was specifically designed for the Soyuz by The Magnetic Assembly after the New Years Revolution.