There is a reason. The Corps recruits humans from a specific period in their development as a species, when they are most adaptable and intelligent, without compromising their individuality, aggression and initiative. Time Corps technology is chosen to complement that choice by being easily comprehensible to those that use it without being overpowering or intimidating. The Corps prefers not to have its agents become subservient to the technology they use, which might happen if they were introduced to some of the more advanced technology the Omniverse has to offer. Instead the Corps uses technology that empowers its agents, without taking away their edge.
The basis of much Corps technology is the Monolithic Chip. These are slim slabs of refined plexite, which contain billions of circuits encoded onto their subatomic structure. Under all but the most advanced examinations, monolithic chips appear to be inert wafers of a hardened mineral, and in fact bear a close molecular resemblance to quartz. Consequently, most items of equipment carried by a Time Corps agent appear to be little more than odd collections of crystalline slabs, with no moving parts or discernible circuitry. This makes it extremely hard to reproduce, reducing the risk of historical disruption if it falls into the hands of contemporary individuals.
Most Corps technology requires little in the way of power to operate, and the majority of it runs on Zero Cells. Resembling a steel ball bearing, a zero cell is a solid state device used to tap into a zero-point singularity. These cells provide a steady trickle of power to the device, and a single zero-cell can theoretically last forever.
Weapons and high-energy devices are built using the same techniques, though the high demands for energy eventually destabilise the singularity at the heart of the zero-cell, at which point it has to be replaced. Items such at stunners and plasers normally employ a number of zero-cells in concert, fixed in a replaceable magazine. These magazines are designed to be interchangeable between weapons.
The Corps is such a vast organisation that it would be impossible to detail every piece of equipment used. However, the following section does provide an adequate overview of the majority of field agent equipment in use in the Human Protectorate. Also included here are some of the most notable items encountered in the hands of their enemies. Items marked * are standard field issue. Corps issue equipment is isomorphic, functioning only for Corps personnel.
Though not much larger than the famous Desert Eagle handgun, plaser pistols can be difficult to conceal. *
Weight: 1 kg (2.2 lbs)
Size: 25 cm long (9.8 inches)
Effective Range: 80 m (262 ft)
Shots: 50
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Plaser Rifle:- Heavier and more powerful than the plaser
pistol, this assault weapon is the workhorse of 1st Division. The autofire
option makes it a popular choice with new recruits, though more experienced
agents prefer to pick and choose their targets. *
Weight: 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs)
Size: 70 cm long (27.5 inches)
Effective Range: 300 m (984 ft)
Shots: 80
Rate of Fire: Single shot or 10 shots per second autofire
Plaser Cannon:- The equivalent of a 20th Century bazooka
or heavy machinegun, the plaser cannon is the favoured weapon of Division
Omega. Normally used from a tripod, the plaser cannon can also be fired
over the shoulder like a bazooka. Division Omega operatives use specially
adapted versions of this weapon, built into the arms of their temporal
armour.
Weight: 11 kg (24.2 lbs)
Size: 90 cm long (35.4 inches)
Effective Range: 650 m (2132 ft)
Shots: 50
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Acoustic Stunner: - This palm-sized hand weapon uses a high
frequency sonic pulse to deliver a powerful neural shock to the target,
causing paralysis and unconsciousness in humans. Because the stunner leaves
no anomalous physical evidence on its targets and is easy to conceal, it
has become a favourite of the Operations Section. Though useful, this device
has several drawbacks. It has a maximum range of about fifty meters in
a standard terrestrial atmosphere, it has proven to be of limited effectiveness
against lifeforms with radically different nervous systems, and the nature
of the weapon means that almost any cover at all severely reduces it’s
effectiveness. It is powered by a single zero-cell. *
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 10 cm long (3.9 inches)
Effective Range: 50 m (164 ft)
Shots: 30
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Knife: - This plain black bonded-polycarbide knife has a
six-inch multipurpose blade and a low-tech survival kit concealed within
the handle. The kit contains flints, a wire saw, a needle, suture thread,
water purification tablets and a pyrogel capsule for ingestion should the
agent be captured. *
Weight: 0.22 kg (0.5 lbs)
Size: 30.4 cm long (12 inches)
Force Grenade: - Much beloved by agents in a tight spot,
the Force Grenade is a reusable personal weapon, which may be programmed
to produce a variety of different effects. When the grenade "detonates"
it emits a unidirectional burst of charged plasma particles in a specified
radius around the device. Varying the power of the burst can produce a
wide range of effects, from a light stun to vaporisation, as well as different
effect areas. Force Grenades can also be linked to detonate on a broadcast
command, or to trigger if unauthorised personnel move within a specified
distance of the weapon.*
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.1 lbs)
Size: 10 cm (3.9 inches) sphere
Maximum Effect Area: 15 m (49.2 ft) diameter sphere
Uses: 5
Stasis Bomb: - The stasis bomb is the perfect reusable anti-personnel
weapon. An egg-sized sphere, when activated the bomb generates a bubble
of slow time around the target. This bubble, with the target in it, can
be touched and moved easily (regardless of its contents the bubble only
weighs about 3 lbs). The bubble will hold the target in stasis until the
bomb is deactivated from outside by a command from a Corps commlink or
scanner. The size of the bubble generated can range from a 3ft radius,
to 15ft. Like force grenades, stasis bombs can be detonated in a variety
of ways.
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.1 lbs)
Size: 7 cm (2.7 inches) sphere
Maximum Effect Area: 4.5 m (15 ft) diameter sphere
Uses: 5
Outriders: - A great favourite of renegades and temporal
raiders, outriders are a fine example of 22nd Century combat technology
at its very best. Outriders are small, baseball sized remote drones, equipped
with anti-graviton propulsion units and bioelectric contact tasers, which
orbit the user at a maximum distance of one metre. These drones are linked
to the user by a neural tap at the base of the skull which, along with
a sophisticated AI combat program, allows the user to control the drones
as if they were additional limbs, turning an average hand-to-hand combatant
into a devastating opponent. Though outriders usually come in pairs, a
skilled user can control as many as six at a time before experiencing any
reduction in effectiveness. Though outriders normally deliver a small neural
shock, equivalent to a medium blow with a fist, it is possible to increase
the damage to a lethal level.
Advanced examples of this technology incorporate holocloaks that allow the user to hide the outriders until they are needed, and provide sensory feedback, acting as additional eyes and ears. Outriders incorporate several potentially disruptive technologies, and thus are not used by the Corps.
Weight: 3.1 (7 lbs)
Size: 9 cm (3.5 inches) sphere
Scyther: - This barbaric handgun is an anti-personnel terror
weapon, developed on most parallels in the late 2020’s and designed to
inspire such fear in the target that they immediately surrender. In its
basic form, the Scyther fires a small, self-propelled projectile, which
separates into twelve individual segments. Each segment is connected to
the others by the strands of a monowire net, which spreads out to ensnare
the target. Since mono-wire easily slices through almost anything, the
result of being hit by a Scyther shot is that the target is instantly sliced
into a large number of very small pieces. As the cuts are extremely fine,
the target very often survives for several seconds, before inevitably falling
apart.
Advanced versions of this weapon include target seeking capability based on thermal pattern, image recognition and later, psionic signature. The Corps considers this weapon morally repugnant, and its use by an agent is a gross violation of Corps protocols.
Weight: 3.1 (7 lbs)
Size: 30 cm (11.8 inches)
Effective Range: 450 m (1476 ft)
Shots: 8
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Psi-Gun: - Developed by the Koranthir during their Telepathic
Wars, the psi-gun is the perfect assassination tool and has become a favourite
of temporal terrorists like Stopwatch. The weapon, which resembles a standard
assault rifle, works by scanning the target and analysing the energy pattern
generated by their brain and nervous system activity. It then generates
and fires a pulse of psionic energy in a pattern exactly opposed to that
of the target. The pulse cancels out all neural activity in the target,
destroying his mind and killing him without leaving a mark. Post-mortem
examination reveals only the mechanical failure of the bodies circulatory
and respiratory system cased by the collapse of the autonomic nervous system.
The psi-gun is powered by the assassin’s own life-force, and is capable of scanning and killing a target from a distance of more than twenty miles. Later versions of this weapon were capable of killing a target using pre-recorded scans of their neural activity.
Weight: 2.2 kg (5 lbs)
Size: 85 cm long (33.4 inches)
Effective Range: 35.4 km (22 miles)
Shots: 5
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Temporal Displacement Grenade: - Used by the Corps in only
the most extreme situations, these polybdenum powered weapons have become
a favourite of temporal pirates and renegades. They have a variable area
of effect, and work by transporting everything within range exactly 12
hours into the future. Because these devices are purposefully not equipped
with any form of spatial compensator, anything caught in the field of effect
usually materialises in hard vacuum, the planetary surface having moved
on. As with the force grenade, displacement grenades can be detonated in
a variety of ways.
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.1 lbs)
Size: 10cm (3.9 inches) sphere
Maximum Effect Area: 15m (49.2ft) diameter sphere
Uses: 1
Mobius Gun: - A truly horrible weapon, the Mobius Gun is
a perfect example of what can be done with temporal technology in the wrong
hands. Created by the renegade known as Faust, the Mobius Gun is a compact
personal assault weapon, powered by polybdenum cartridges. When fired,
it projects a stream of charged tachyons and chronons that interacts with
the target’s own chronal field, altering its direction and spin. In effect
this pushes the target out of phase with the temporal horizon and into
a state where the present moment is extended to infinity. The target apparently
vanishes, but in actuality remains in the same spot, unreachable, undying
and aware for all eternity, detectable only by those with psionic abilities.
Time Corps agents are instructed to immediately destroy any examples of this technology and details of its construction whenever it is encountered, as a matter of priority.
Weight: 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs)
Size: 75 cm long (29.5 inches)
Effective Range: 300 m (984 ft)
Shots: 10
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Chronoplaser: - An extension of the principles of the plaser,
coupled with temporal physics, the Chronoplaser is a weapon of last resort.
Instead of firing energised plasma at the target, the Chronoplaser instead
fires bolts of directed chronoplasm, the raw stuff of time itself. The
effect of this material upon the target can be wildly unpredictable, but
may include accelerated ageing, age reversal, a combination of the two,
or even deletion from the timeline. Use of a chronoplaser creates disturbances
in the temporal field that can be detected with little effort.
Like the Mobius Gun above, the Chronoplaser is on the Corps' restricted technology list. All examples of this device and details of its construction are to be recovered or destroyed whenever it is encountered.
Weight: 3 kg (6.6 lbs)
Size: 30 cm (11.8 inches)
Effective Range: 400 m (1312 ft)
Shots: 10
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.66 lbs)
Size: 10 x 17 x 2 cm (3 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches)
Effective Range: 2000 m
Duration: 900 hours continuous use
Commlink: - The silver and gold hourglass insignia worn by
all Time Corps personnel doubles as a personal voice communicator, designed
to maintain voice contact between Corps agents where or whenever they may
be. The device may also be used to track and locate agents, and for contact
with other forms of Corps equipment (such as the Timeglider AI, or QAIN).
Activated by a dermal sensor keyed solely to the authorised user or users,
the commlink has a planet-wide range, but no transtemporal capability.
The commlink can broadcast over a wide band of scrambled hyperwave frequencies,
and can be used for wide transmission to all commlinks within range, or
for one-to-one communication. The commlink comes with a contact bone induction
transceiver for surreptitious use. All functions of the commlink are voice
controlled, spoken while skin contact is maintained. There are no external
controls. *
Weight: 0.02 kg (0.04 lbs)
Size: 5 x 5 x 0.5 cm (1.96 x 1.96 x 0.19 inches)
Effective Range: Planetary
Duration: 1000 hours continuous use
Lifterpac: - This device is a simple anti-graviton backpack
and harness that gives its wearer the power of flight. Activated and guided
via a basic pistol-grip control unit, the standard lifterpac has a top
speed of 70 mph (in standard Earth atmosphere and gravity) and can support
a maximum of 500 lbs, including the user. Under zero-g conditions, the
lifterpac has a top speed of 500 mph. Lifterpacs also feature a low-power
force shield, designed to protect the user from wind effects, but which
is capable of repelling small arms fire.
Though useful, lifterpacs are difficult to master and their use requires intensive training. Normally only one lifterpac is assigned to each mission team. *
Weight: 4 kg (8.8 lbs)
Size: 40 x 30 x 40 cm (15.7 x 11.8 x 15.7 inches)
Maximum Speed: 40 kph
Flight Range: 6000 km (3728 miles)
Flight Duration: 150 hours
Chronopac: - This slightly bulkier item consists of a basic
lifterpac with a more powerful force shield, combined with a two-shot time
drive. A favourite of 1st Division, this device can be used to mount aerial
assaults across time, giving the trooper a tactical advantage whilst retaining
the option to clock out and return home. When used in mass assaults, the
time drive is usually slaved to the mission commander, allowing him or
her to call off the mission and return all Corps personnel to the Citadel
at any time.
Weight: 4.5 kg (10 lbs)
Size: 40 x 30 x 55 cm (15.7 x 11.8 x 21.6 inches)
Maximum Speed: 40 kph
Temporal Range: Single parallel
Flight Range: 4000 km (2485 miles)
Flight Duration: 100 hours
Uses: 2
Mission Suit: - Woven from a programmable mimetic smart fabric,
an inactive basic mission suit is an all-in-one slate-grey jump-suit, covered
with equipment pouches. Upon activation, the fabric follows its programming,
changing shape, colour and texture until it has literally become another
set of clothes. Although mission suits may be used to simulate native clothing
for almost any time-period, and may be reprogrammed at any point through
an interface with a Corps issue scanner, they cannot form separate items
(e.g., removable socks and shoes), and so are recommended for use only
on short missions. In addition to their camouflage capability, mission
suits are durable enough to act as light armour, have intelligent temperature
control, and can provide basic life support and bio-sign monitoring in
emergency situations. *
Weight: 0.22 kg (0.5 lbs)
Camoweb: - Derived from Vashakti stealth armour, a camoweb
is a lightweight body suit that uses hologram technology to render the
user practically invisible. Camoweb masks the user on all light wavelengths
and mutes his bioelectric field emissions to levels approximating plant-life.
The suit incorporates a sophisticated cooling system, reducing the users
thermal signature to background levels, and can be fitted with basic life
support equipment.
Camoweb suits are invaluable in reconnaissance missions where drones are unusable, and can be worn over combat armour. However, camoweb is relatively fragile, and care must be taken not to damage the hologram matrix while wearing it. If the matrix is disrupted, the user will immediately become visible.
Weight: 0.25 kg (0.55 lbs)
Duration: 50 hours continuous use
Capture Pod: - The capture pod is a combined stasis field
generator and one-way time machine, used solely to transfer prisoners from
their current chronospatial location to the Cage. A collapsible man-sized
canister with a few basic controls, one capture pod is stored in each Timeglider
as standard. The destination is pre-programmed, and once sealed, the pod
cannot be opened without killing the occupant, except by specially trained
Corps personnel. *
Weight: 6.8 kg (15 lbs)
Size: 228.6 x 121.9 x 58.4 cm (90 x 48 x 23 inches)
Size (collapsed): 60 x 121.9 x 58.4 cm (23.6 x 48 x 23 inches)
Duration: 900 hours continuous use
Uses: 1
Bioscanner: - This vital tool is a combination medical database
and diagnostic computer, coupled with an array of high-resolution bio-function
sensors and recorders. Slightly larger than a standard scanner, this device
is standard issue to all agents assigned to Medical Division. *
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 10 cm x 17.5 cm x 2 cm (3 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches)
Effective Range: 1000 m (3280 ft)
Duration: 900 hours continuous use
Medpac:- A supplementary device for the bioscanner, the emergency
medpac is capable of automated delivery of full life support, as well as
intravenous medication, a localised sterile zone and a limited regeneration
field. When slaved to the bioscanner, this device is fully capable of providing
a tailored programme of medical aid, using in-built replicon circuitry
to synthesise the exact materials required. Though this item is bulky (approximately
twice the size of a standard scanner), it has proved its worth in the field
and no experienced agent will allow his or her team to clock out without
one. *
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 10 x 17 x 4 cm (3 x 6.6 x 1.5 inches)
Effective Range: 2000 m
Duration: 900 hours continuous use
Medkit: - Standard issue on all Timegliders and to all Corps
medical personnel, the personal medkit is stored in a small pouch worn
at the belt, and consists of the following items: *
Toolkit: - The toolkit is a book-sized pack of sophisticated
tools and devices designed to allow any agent to perform repairs on technological
equipment from almost any era. Using the toolkit, a skilled individual
could construct almost any technological device, given the right materials
and enough time. The kit includes: *
Weight: 0.6 kg (1.5 lbs)
Size: 20 x 10.5 x 4 cm
Visor: - Part of the standard Operations Section uniform,
the visor is more than just eyewear. Molecularly encoded lens technology
allows the visor to incorporate light amplification, 100X magnification,
and ultra-violet and infrared vision capability. The controls are touch
coded to the wearer and the visor is powered by an in-built long-life solar
capacitor. The visor can also function as a "heads up" display for other
Corps equipment, linked either directly or by short-range hyperwave.*
Weight: 0.03 kg (0.06 lbs)
Size: 13 cm long, 5 cm wide and 0.2 cm thick (5 inches long, 1.9 inches wide and 0.1 inches thick)
Duration: 900 hours continuous use
Neural Block: - This device is small, about the size of a
modern day pager, and is used to restrain prisoners without harming them.
When activated and pressed to the prisoners skin close to their spinal
column, the device adheres and blocks all conscious nerve impulses, while
allowing the autonomic nervous system to function normally. This effectively
paralyses the prisoner, rendering them completely unable to move, speak
or act in any way. This device is extremely useful, but prolonged use is
not recommended, as the experience can have serious psychological repercussions.*
Weight: 0.03 kg ( 0.06 lbs)
Size: 5 x 3 x 1 cm (1.9 x 1.1 x 0.4 inches)
Duration: 30 hours continuous use
Restrainers: - These are simple adjustable manacles, wearable
on either wrists or ankles. Unlike ordinary handcuffs, this device works
by projecting a force-field through the flesh of the prisoner, making the
restrainers part of the prisoner. The field does no harm, and causes no
pain, but the prisoner cannot remove the restrainers without losing the
restrained limbs. Restrainers can be programmed to deliver
neural shocks of increasing strength to a prisoner should they stray from
a pre-programmed area, and can also be set to transmit a homing signal
should the prisoner somehow escape.
Both restrainers and the neural block are useful tools, but as temporal criminals tend to be extremely resourceful, Corps agents are encouraged to put their prisoners into stasis as soon as possible.*
Weight: 0.3kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 2 units, 3 x 4 x 2 cm each (1.1 x 1.5 x 0.7 inches)
Duration: 50 hours continuous use
Temporal Isolator: - A simple palm-sized device worn strapped
to the upper arm, the isolator allows agents in the field to temporarily
bypass the effects of the Singularity Principle by introducing a random
oscillation into the users Quantum Signature. Agents using this device
may therefore encounter their recent past selves in relative safety, though
it is recommended that the isolator be used only as a last resort. Use
of this device is extremely energy intensive and it has proven to be only
fifty percent effective. A side effect of the oscillation generated by
the device is that the user is temporarily isolated from the local timestream.
Though the user can interact fully with local reality, they have limited
protection from the effects of temporal disruptions generated downtime
of their current location.
Weight: 0.1 kg (0.2 lbs)
Size: 6 x 7 x 1 cm (2.3 x 2.7 x 0.4 inches)
Duration: 5 hours continuous use
Time Belt: - This is a miniature belt mounted time drive,
capable of transporting one agent and her personal equipment up to a maximum
of forty-eight hours in time only. The belt contains a single polybdenum
crystal, good for two jumps, but can be recharged by draining energy from
the drive torus of a Corps Timeglider.
The time belt consists of a wide mimetic fabric belt with a heavy circular clasp, which contains the drive circuitry. Two additional buckles mounted at the small of the back contain the navigational unit and power pack. Like the commlink, the belt functions are touch activated and voice controlled, though it may be programmed remotely through a Corps scanner or Timeglider AI.*
Weight: 0.9 kg (2 lbs)
Range: 48 hours
Uses: 2
Psi-Scanner: - Based on the standard issue Corps scanner,
the psi-scanner is a dedicated unit designed for use in historical interrogations.
When used by a skilled operator, this device is capable of downloading
a complete copy of a subject’s mind and memories. The operator can then
interrogate the device and upload the desired information into his own
short-term memory, allowing him to ‘experience’ it directly. Also, the
device can be used to create new, altered memories and upload them into
the mind of the subject, editing out potentially disruptive or anachronistic
experiences. The effectiveness of the device is directly linked to the
skill of the operator in creating plausible and complete memory simulations.
Though the psi-scanner has proven invaluable to the Corps in obtaining historical information and covering up temporal disruptions, agents are only to it when authorised, as memories created with it have been known to wear off unexpectedly. Also, a number of agents have experienced unusual addictive side-effects as a result of using the psi-scanner for prolonged periods.
The psi-scanner is the same size and shape as a standard scanner, and comes with two sets of neural contacts, which must be worn by both operator and subject.
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.66 lbs)
Size: 10 x 17 x 2 cm (3 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches)
Effective Range: 2000 m
Duration: 900 hours continuous use
Causal Inverter: - Colloquially referred to as the "Big Red
Reset Button", the Causal Inverter is a powerful device only to be used
in extreme emergencies. When activated, the device effectively rolls time
back a few minutes (usually less than five, but occasionally as much as
thirty), allowing the user to relive them all over again, armed with the
knowledge of what is going to happen. Only the user has recall of the previous
version of events, other individuals must use paramemory to realise that
time has been altered. The Causal Inverter uses a small polybdenum cell,
and is a one-shot device about the size of a pocket calculator.
Because of the damage this device causes to local space-time, General Order 132 forbids use of the Causal Inverter by Corps agents. However, temporal pirates and renegades often use these devices, and it is suspected that several agents use them in defiance of the regulations. Note that this device does not allow agents to bypass the Rule of Death.
Weight: 0.2 kg (0.4 lbs)
Size: 7 x 12.5 x 1 cm (2.7 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches)
Maximum Range: 30 minutes
Duration: Single use
Though mindlocks are extremely useful in restraining psis, they are not recommended for prolonged use. If worn for more than two or three hours, the psi may suffer permanent brain damage. There has also been at least one recorded example of a telepath powerful enough to alter the frequency of his psionic emissions, by-passing the effects of the device.*
Weight: 0.2 kg (0.4 lbs)
Duration: 30 hours continuous use
Psi-Block: - In the early part of the 21st Century, increased
paranoia about the existence of telepathy led to the development of the
Psi-Block, a device designed to prevent a telepath from scanning the user.
Early forms of this device were bulky and hard to conceal, but later advances
led to such a reduction in size that a psi-block could be easily implanted
into the user’s body and be powered by their own bio-electric field or
by blood turbines. Prolonged use of these devices can cause a progressive
neurological degeneration.
Weight: Variable
Size: Variable
Psi-Amp: - Based on the same technology to the psi-block,
a psi-amp augments a psi’s personal power by analysing and amplifying his
psionic emissions. Like psi-blocks, psi-amps were initially bulky devices,
but later became small enough for surgical implantation. Psi-amps are not
for prolonged use, as they are unreliable and can cause severe synaptic
damage. Corps psis are encouraged to rely on their own strength rather
than the borrowed power of technology.
Weight: Variable
Size: Variable
Drones: - Remote drones are small but invaluable devices.
Slightly smaller than a Terran soccer ball, the remote drone is an autonomous
device designed to provide a wide variety of sensory data without putting
the user at risk. The drone is equipped with anti-graviton thrusters, enabling
movement at speeds of up to 200 mph in standard Earth gravity and atmosphere,
as well as holo-emitters for camouflage, a two-way audio-visual commlink,
a built-in scanner array and limited AI capability.
Normally controlled through a Corps issue scanner, the drone can feed its sensory input directly to the user through their visor display. Drones have proven invaluable in the past for tracking individuals and objects, as well as for performing low-risk reconnaissance. Due to their on-board AI, drones can be programmed with a minimum of effort, and can perform simple tasks by themselves, like patrolling a perimeter and raising the alarm should intruders approach. With effort, the drones holo-emitters can be reconfigured to present whatever image the user requires.
Weight: 3 kg (6.6 lbs)
Size: 20 cm sphere (7.8 inches)
Duration: 500 hours continuous use
Security Drones: - Like the basic drone above, the security
drone is an autonomous mobile device, equipped with camouflage, limited
intelligence, sensors and communications equipment. Unlike the basic drone,
it is also armed and is fully capable of defending itself against attack.
Larger than the basic drone (about the size of a Terran basketball), security
drones are equipped with force shields capable of absorbing blasts from
most high-energy weapons and deflecting small arms fire. They are also
fitted with a number of offensive weapons, such as plasers, stunners, disruptors
and a forcewhip. Agents typically use security drones to secure a perimeter,
or to provide backup in combat situations.
Weight: 3.8 kg (8.3 lbs)
Size: 30 cm sphere (11.8 inches)
Duration: 600 hours continuous use
Transmat: - The primary method of transport from the 25th
Century onward, the transmat is a simple matter-energy-matter converter
and transmitter device. Unlike similar devices, the transmat functions
by translating the subject into series of quantum wave potentialities,
effectively turning the subject from a real individual into a possible
one. The wave series is transmitted through a narrow-focus hyperspace conduit
to the destination point, where the waves are collapsed from potentialities
into a real event once more, re-materialising the subject.
Travel by transmat is normally instantaneous, though it is possible
to store a subject’s potentialities in a quantum memory core for short
periods of time. During normal transmission, it is possible to read the
potentialities, scanning them for weapons, infections or other harmful
components. An operator can then "edit out" these factors before the potentialities
are re-collapsed, effectively destroying any harmful or undesirable matter.
Replicon: - Derived from the same basic principles as the transmat, the replicon is a matter replicator, capable of generating physical objects from pre-recorded quantum wave potentialities. Given sufficient energy, a replicon can generate any object stored in its database, on demand. Replicons are capable of creating food, weapons, medical supplies, mechanical and electronic devices instantaneously.
Replicons work in the same basic way as a transmat, by de-actualising a given object into its component quantum wave potentialities, transforming it from an actual object to a potential one. Unlike the transmat, the replicon can store this wave pattern indefinitely and can re-actualise it on command, generating duplicate copies of the initial item.
There are limits to what a replicon can do. Replicons cannot create matter from nothing, so they require large amounts of energy to function. Also, while they can produce inert biological matter, a replicon cannot generate life, a limitation imposed by the amount of information necessary to reproduce living things.
Corps production facilities use massive industrial replicons to produce
the majority of their equipment, while smaller replicons are used throughout
the Citadel and in other Corps facilities to provide everything from food
and drink to clean uniforms and scanners. Note that certain objects and
substances, like polybdenum crystal, cannot be scanned and generated by
replicon technology.
Jump Snare: - This device functions by generating a high-density field of temporal gravity, which distorts space-time in such a way that anything travelling through time within its operational range is drawn to the snare, re-entering reality on the jump snare platform. Though useful, jump snares are rare, as they require large amounts of polybdenum crystal every time they are used, and the temporal disturbance they create is easily detected with the right equipment.
A jump snare is typically an unwieldy piece of equipment, and has a
large power requirement in addition to the polybdenum that it uses. The
Corps uses an advanced variant of this technology to guide incoming time-craft
to the receiving bays, and to prevent unauthorised access to the Citadel.
The Corps never uses jump snares in the field however, as the distortion
to space-time they create can lead to behavioural anomalies and causal
disruption further down the timeline.
Nano-guards: - A particularly unpleasant development of the 23rd Century Colony Wars, nano-guards are molecule sized devices that are seeded around an area that an individual wishes to keep secure. The guards are given a series of genetic profiles for those who are allowed access, and then are simply left. The guards remain inert until a life-form is detected, whereupon they activate. The subject’s DNA is analysed, and compared to the authorised profiles. If there is no match, the guards go into attack mode. What happens then depends on the programming the guards have been given. They can be programmed to incapacitate or stun the intruder, holding him for interrogation, but more often than not they are programmed to infiltrate the target and disassemble him, a horrifically painful process that can take several minutes to complete. Nano-guards have been used as assassination weapons in the past, by programming them to activate on detection of the target’s genetic signature.
For many years after the wars for which they were produced, nano-guards
were a lurking menace, often remaining dormant for decades before being
awoken by some hapless soul, killing long after the men who had deployed
them were dead. For this reason, Corps General Order 221 forbids the use
of nano-weapons in the field.
Holocentre: - The term "holocentre" is actually a misnomer, as no holograms are used in this versatile and useful piece of Corps technology. The name is a holdover from the immersive hologram environment centres first used by mankind in the mid-21st Century. Those primitive devices used a complex mixture of holograms and textured forcefields to create a totally convincing simulation of reality, to be used for training and recreational purposes. The Corps holocentre is a far more sophisticated device, creating the desired environment within an unstable dimensional bubble by using conceptual engineering, a mathematical technique capable of shaping reality itself. Within the bubble universe, the programmed environment and situation is fully real, as are any entities within it. While the size of the bubble is limited, dedicated AI’s continually update the equations that maintain it, giving the internal environment the illusion of infinite size. The reality of the environment is such that created beings within it will act as though they are real, though in reality they are merely simulations following extremely complex programs.
While objects and being created within the holocentre are physically real, that reality is maintained only as long as the program that created them is running. Once the program is halted and the bubble universe collapses any created objects or being outside of the holocentre will de-resolve.
Holocentres are popular items with Corps personnel. They are frequently used for recreational purposes, as they can accurately reproduce any desired location or situation. A popular holocentre pastime is "role-play", a combination of game and interactive theatre, where the user or users take on a different persona within the created environment, becoming a character within a pre-generated story. Others prefer to use the holocentre for more physical pursuits, such as rock climbing, zero-g combat, sun-diving or surfing.
The Corps makes extensive use of holocentres during training scenarios and for evaluations. The infamous "Academy Assault" evaluation scenario takes place entirely within a holocentre, without the knowledge of the participating agents.
Holocentres are programmed to protect their users from harm, though
it is still possible to get hurt within them. Though on the default setting
potential damage is limited to the equivalent of a light slap, the user
can adjust the safety levels, adding an extra layer of reality. However,
holocentres have a number of subsystems that prevent lethal incidents.
Eternity Rooms: - This is a device used to monitor and observe the structure of the Omniverse, and is among the most spectacular technology the Corps employs. An Eternity Room is a large spherical chamber, with a slim walkway leading to a control dais at the centre of the sphere, and a number of hovering platforms capable of supporting up to ten agents each. Using holocentre technology and sophisticated conceptual engineering equations, the sphere creates an exact graphical representation of the Omniverse at any chosen time, allowing the users to see temporal disruptions as they occur and to map the possible outcome of their effects.
The Eternity Rooms are most often used to predict the effects of enemy actions, but can also be used to locate areas in space-time vulnerable to disruption, track transparallel ripples back to their point of origin and locate new parallels.
Eternity Rooms were derived from technology developed by the Chronarchs of Ramatheya. It is rumoured that they possess Eternity Rooms that not only display the Omniverse, but also in some way enclose it, allowing them to actually manipulate entire parallels from a distance.
