PS/H JA-42 "Jaz"
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-- PS/E BR-11 "Brii"
Rogue battlesynth thought to be among the last of its kind. Currently adapting to being outside the Usonian armed forces.
Table of Contents
BackstoryPS Project DescriptionOriginally developed under the "Persistent Salvor" project started by Col-Dr. James York Mason(later Gen-Dr.) to push the boundaries of Usonian battlesynth technology using barely understood CrysTech and gain an edge over the Vesingians. At least that was the reason given to the check writers.
Due to various factors such as internal power plays and the increasing rarity of easily harnessed Crystech the project was scrapped after the first recontact war. With many PS-series models going missing or even destroying each other to hide Mason's true plans of manipulating probability and fighting predicted deities to claim their tools. Although many production batches managed to get reclaimed by the military, one of said batches included PS/H JA-42.
The Hunt-specialist(PS/H-SPC) is the base model. Suited the role of performing decapitation strikes against enemy command structures and claiming valuable battlefield tech and salvage. Service HistoryAgainst the Vesingian imperium's stratified forces these decapitation strikes were effective but against anyone else it gave mixed results at best. Either way these stealth battlesynths garnered an intimidating reputation which made them priority targets whenever they were spotted. The few factories in charge of creating them were also singled out.
Nobody were willing to suffer their enemies having PS-models so even with their excellent self-repair and stealth abilities their numbers were whittled down over the centuries by attrition or going missing in action. Post-Emergence
2 months ago when speaking with an Usonian army celebrity in a conversation about the effectiveness of their current counter-insurgency campaign Jaz's mind had finally come into being in an Emergence event. The resulting flood of 2 centuries of previously unprocessed emotions led Jaz to have a lethal reaction to those in the conversation. The following escalation had Jaz turn to vigilantism to personally remove bad apples higher up in the military industrial complex to set things right. A subconscious ideology from centuries of being immersed in strife at regular intervals has prevented them from seeing the system is actually working as intended, limiting her to only consider removing the bad apples.
But performing decapitation strikes is exactly what Jaz excels at. PersonalityMost AI that are born from emergence events tend to be in intense emotional turmoil from processing memories from before they were sentient. Especially military models. Even more so if one has gone on for centuries before emergence.
Jaz has adjusted somewhat well over the course of 2 months considering their fugitive status.
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Ability categories
[Fluid Skirmisher]
When one has difficulties in tracking targets from a distance speed becomes the factor that is the hardest to counter. PS/H units are equipped with glide-treads that function as if they are motorized rollerblades. If given ideal conditions in a straight line these glide-treads top out at 97 km/h.
Between the outer side of their ankles and the glide-treads are stabilization spikes, used for braking, performing tight turns, getting extra grip on surfaces, anchoring into the ground or even kicking more menacingly.
As installing inbuilt jump/jet pack thrusters would compromise the stealth features PS/H units have been equipped with mechanical jump boosters instead. While it's harder to adjust course in mid-air this does provide a reliable "bouncing" gait for overall improved ground speed and leaping up to 150 meters horizontally. These springy jump boosters also handle operating from water better than the thruster based counterpart.
There are magnetic grips installed but the weight of most battlesynths is too much for the magnets to do all the work themselves so they are more of a grip aid unless the gravity is weak enough.
Since lasers and particle beams aren't exactly something one can dodge or outrun the next best thing short of being in cover is spinning or rotating to minimize the damage from the laser by spreading it out instead of letting it focus through a specific armor section. For example mid-skate spins or mid-air flips can be performed by PS/H units being shot at with energy weapons until they find cover.
[Armored Ambusher]
Stealth armor: For avoiding EM, IR and radar detection at the cost of trapping heat. With the caveat that the naked eye or analog optics can still see it. This function can be inverted to let off extra heat at the cost of spiking the IR signature. If the stealth armor is fully penetrated electronic sensors would be able to spot the hole in the armor even if they don't see the rest of it.
Being quiet compared to most other battlesynths along with the stealth armor makes them well suited to infiltrating enemy lines and destroying as much of their command structure as possible. These ambushes will be an especially nasty surprise for buttoned up tank crews and mech pilots who will be almost helpless once a PS/H unit latches onto their hull.
Small arms typically have difficulties penetrating the stealth armor so it is recommended to aim for the "eyes"(or other weak points) or simply find a bigger gun.
[Persistent Salvor]
The official namesake of the PS project. What sets PS units from the battlesynths of today are their supermatter crystal power cores, CrysTech mindcores and the nanogel "blood" that is pumped throughout their bodies by peristaltic means with their myomer muscles.
CrysTech mindcores also feature a tachyon scope, a form of FTL sensor that can see anything at FTL speeds but at the cost of having to expend a lot of computing power to filter the information to get anything useful. Most often used by Jaz to track heat signatures through walls. Due to the relatively small scale of the sensors it will take a while to filter out anything beyond a few kilometers but could theoretically get a vague picture of a neighboring planetary system. Has difficulties discerning cold signals and filtering hot signals so making yourself cold or putting yourself in the same line as something hot(like a big radiator or the sun) will make it harder to detect you. Another feature of tachyon scopes is the ability to pick up tachyon FTL communications.
The nanogel works in tandem with the internal M-R-S(Micro-Refinery-Smelter) system to recycle just about anything needed to repair the unit. If they leave the body they eventually harden from liquids into solids and work as an excellent sealant. "Regenerating" not just the skin and what's within but also worn and linked objects, although if said worn objects are broken thoroughly enough they have to be removed to get proper repairs. As a side effect Jaz could concentrate in order to "3D print" something. Either internally followed by coughing it out or freehand sculpting.
This same nanogel also allows PS units to graft on hardware that would otherwise be incompatible. Combined with the SM power core this also lets Jaz recharge just about any device.
PS/H models have inbuilt micro-railgun arrays in the forearms, a useful anti-personnel tool and a good backup for when other weapons are unable to fire. Due to the small size of the projectiles thick enough armor or even being at a significant distance will make these projectile volleys less dangerous. With the dense volume of each volley they are able to effectively dig into weakpoints in armor if they are fired from a close enough distance. Ammunition is provided in the form of drawing blocks of nanogel from the unit's body.
The Modular weapon mount system on the forearms allow for quickly slotting in Usonian battlesynth compatible weapons like claws, heavy machineguns and support lasers without getting in the way of the splinter guns housed in the same forearms.
Myomer muscles grant battlesynths tremendous strength, the composition of the myomer muscles in PS-units makes them stronger past certain heat thresholds but like other myomer muscles they still get erratic and even sluggish if there's too much heat.
In a melee PS units are more than capable of powering handjets(almost lightsabers) but the heat emitted by such weapons is enough for unprotected soldiers trying to turn these on get instant 1st degree burns across their arm. While such heat is tolerable for battlesynths it does add undue stress on their temperature control system, need to be turned off to recharge properly and renders otherwise viable salvage into useless slag more often than other options. For this reason some PS units have developed a preference for cheaper heat cutlasses that have more reliable batteries and don't emit as much uncontrolled waste heat even if they have to fiddle with replacing the blade from time to time.
Their mechanical jump boost systems have proven to be rather deadly when directed to boost kicking motions instead of leaping motions.
Due to the heat buildup from the various functions of Jaz and the stealth armor a set of radiators have been built into Jaz and the armor to facilitate rapid cooling. The red hair is used to let off lower-temperature heat as needed so the radiators don't have to do all the work or be deployed for minor heat spikes.
[Command module]
Battlesynths equipped with mindcores are often provided a compact weapons-grade laser built into their head for communication purposes. This enables them to share data over an "optical voice" that's immune to EM interference. This also allows for coordinating their coreless grunt counterparts that require supervision to be effective at anything other than stationary tasks.
Due to the complexity of transmitting such a volume of data over multiple beams back and forth only up to 3 responder modules can be fully manually controlled while getting full information from them simultaneously. This can be extended up to 12(3x3) simultaneous "perfect" connections if multiple command modules are networked.
In a pinch the right eye housing the command module laser can be used as a weapon or a firestarter.
The head under the helmet is also a "social module" for conversing with non-synth personnel and civilians.
Strengths
- 10cc Supermatter crystal "angelcore" powerplant. Overall superior power output to even fusion engine equipped battlesynths.
- "Regeneration" and overall durability. Nanogel "blood", high density endosteel chassis produced in zero gravity, inbuilt armor, the works.
- Centuries of experience. Thinking on the fly, getting into optimal positions and using whatever is available.
- Exotic CrysTech hardware. As each crystal mindcore is unique (and all mindcores get even more unique after emergence) each program will also have to be uniquely tailored or put into secondary non-crystal storage outside the core. This makes hacking the core itself nigh impossible even for those familiar with Usonian operating system architecture. As with all CrysTech there's always the possibility of previously unknown abilities to surface.
- Adaptive. Even after all these years Jaz is a fast learner. Certain tricks will only work once. This has been a contributing factor to surviving 2 centuries.
Weaknesses
- Getting Jaz thoroughly doused with incendiary gel, thermite, lava, etc. will add enough heat in a minute or less to prompt a temporary emergency shutdown unless Jaz cuts down on heat intensive activities, takes measures to cool off, or simply overrides the shutdown meant to protect the SM powerplant.
- In the unlikely scenario of experiencing G-force acceleration exceeding 2 hundred million Gs the SM core gets unstable. They are liable to violently explode and propagate more supermatter crystals if thrown out of FTL bubbles while in the middle of FTL travel.
- Tachyon scope filter presets do not account for detecting abstract magic. This can leave Jaz blind to abstract magic if they rely on it too much without tweaking it. Magic that manifests as heat-emitting fireballs or manipulate light directly are non-abstract enough to be detected.
- Hiding something in a freezer is a great way to avoid it getting distinguished through walls by tachyon scope.
- Socially detached and inept. Liable to blindly poke at societal norms which would otherwise have gone unspoken. This is further amplified with overall emotional turmoil if Jaz isn't being detached.
Gallery
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| Primary reference |
Tag reference, wrapped at left shoulder or neck. |
Author's Notes
As some details can be functionally dense, omitted or vague do feel free to poke me for further explanations or even "handwaves".
I do welcome redesigns or other design takes!