Miscellaneous Tech
Iceburg-5 - where you at??
"No need for alarm, right now I'm cruisin to the sound of my
enhanced CD-ROM"
Hurry up 5, yo you know it's about to get thick
I see this cat away behind my back about to do a stick
"Tell me where you at, I will be there in 10 seconds flat, you know
I got your
back, I'll be there just in time to counteract"
Busta Rhymes, Fire it Up
There are plenty of unconventional weapons out there - things that
make technophiles, terrorists and tacticans drool. This is an area
the TU has a real advantage: it contains plenty of expertise in
making stuff that nobody else expects.
Pulse Bombs
Pulse bombs produce an intense electromagnetic pulse (EMP),
disrupting or damaging electronic systems. While some devices are
hardened (like essential hospital equipment and military systems),
electronics in general is easily damaged by the EMP. The pulse
induces kilovolt potentials that can burn out integrated circuits,
overload communication systems or randomize data in computer
memories. Even if the device isn't destroyed it can be wounded,
making it work but with much lower reliability. Since there are
electronics just about everywhere, a pulse bomb will bring
practically all aspects of modern life to a halt - phones don't
work, cars won't start, appliances malfunction and computers break
down.
The most common form of pulse bombs is Flux Compression
Generators; explosives are used to rapidly compress a magnetic
field, transferring energy from the explosion into a pulse. The
device is fairly simple to build by an engineer with knowledge of
electronics and demolition, and has a "kill radius" of several
hundred meters. The military has developed even more powerful pulse
bombs ("E-Bombs") intended to take out even some hardened targets
using high power microwaves.
Needless to say, antiterrorist agencies will swarm to the place
where a pulse bomb has been detonated. While there have been some
international attempts to limit the spread of E-weapons, they are
too easy to make, and they are rapidly becoming a terrorist weapon
of choice against information society. Even if vital systems are
hardened the breakdown of other systems are often enough to prevent
operations.
The
Electromagnetic Bomb - a Weapon of Electrical Mass
Destruction
Jamming
ECM: Electronic Counter Measures are the bane of all the wireless
communication systems. Originally developed for military uses, but
now also employed by the TU (and worrying enough, some of the
anti-TU groups). ECM jammers simply jam certain radio frequencies
with loud noise, making communication impossible. A correctly tuned
or sufficiently broad jammer can wipe out use of wearable net
access, cellular phones, GPS, drones or similar radio systems in
the area. A well placed jammer device can turn a C3I system into a
liability by breaking communications just when they are needed; on
the other hand, the military is constantly developing systems that
are harder to jam. There are also military ECCMs, weapons such as
small missiles that follow the emissions of the jammer and blow it
up. There are also rumors that Trillicon Arms is developing the
"Concordat ECCCM", a tiny missile intended to ride on top of the
jammer and attacking the attacking missile.
Non-Lethal Weapons
Killing people is generally considered bad form, and after PR
disasters such as Waco, Somalia and the Nanjing riots most western
states deeply realized the need for non-lethal weapons. The idea is
to subdue or disable the opponent without undue harm, which of
course looks much better in the media and also avoids the problem
with "dead men tell no tales". They are quite attractive to use as
crowd control, antiterrorism, arrest of violent criminals and
hostage rescue, even if they are far from safe. One side effect is
that police and others are less inhibited from using them than
lethal weapons.
The most common non-lethal weapons are tasers, tanglers and
various crowd-control gases:
Taser guns fire two small needles that inject a electric shock
into the target. The effect stuns most targets, although some might
be slightly more resistant and people with weak hearts might suffer
from shock. Tasers are in widespread use among security firms;
several nations have tried to introduce them among the police, but
generally police forces have refused to let go of their guns.
Tanglers fire nets, quickly expanding sticky foam or "spaghetti
rounds" that entangle the target. They are not as popular as tasers
since they require more skill in handling (and proper equipment for
handling the incapacitated adhesive target), but are much easier to
hit with and are not as hindered by armored wests. A direct hit to
the head can suffocate the target. Tanglers are usually employed by
SWAT teams, especially when targeting a group of people.
Chemical crowd control (CCC) weapons involve tear and vomit
gases, tranquilizing aerosols and foam weapons that quickly expand
and harden. While most are intended for use against riots, they
also exist in an "indoor grenade" form for antiterrorism or hostage
situations.
In addition to these there exists other non-lethal weapons not
in wide use, especially prototypes that never got off the ground
(such as infrasonic riot control systems) and military sabotage
weaponry. The sabotage weapons range from E-bombs over stuff like
Lime to zero friction dust (teflon microdust that ruins sensitive
equipment and is practically impossible to get rid of).
http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/nlw/
http://mprofaca.cronet.com/atpc1.html#5.
http://www.cdsar.af.mil/apj/mcgowan.html
U-2 "Cool It"
A crowd control gas used first in the US, but imitated in EU and
PRC. It consists of a skin absorbed aerosol tranquilizer, making
people very calm and damped. Perfect for handling riots, wild
parties and unlawful demonstrations.
[ Unless the victim can manage a Great MIND roll or a Fair
Emotion Control roll, he or she becomes passive and cannot initiate
anything more than routine actions for the next few hours. ]
Tear Gas (haloacetones)
Old classics, as nasty then as now. Highly irritating to the eyes
and throat, causes strong coughing, tears and sometimes vomiting.
No longer the preferred method in enlightened places like the EU
and US, but popular everywhere else. Look out for little old ladies
with tear gas cans.
[ -3 to all actions, unless a Great END or a Fair Body Control
roll succeeds, which reduces the penalty with one for one step of
difference. ]
Fluff Bomb
Another "nonlethal" weapon. When it explodes it fills a volume of
30 cubic meters with foam that instantly hardens to a strong solid.
In the open it is mostly a nuisance since the foam tends to fly off
in all directions, but a grenade can fill an entire room and
immobilize everyone inside. Breathing is still possible since the
foam is porous, but most feel suffocated. Getting rid of the foam
from everything is very tiresome.
[ To move, a person in the foam needs to succeed with a Good STR
roll for each action; visibility is of course nil. ]
Liquid Metal Embrittlement ("Lime")
A handy little sabotage device originally developed for use against
terrorists but now used by some of the more physical groups of the
TU. The device looks like a felt-tip pen, containing a clear
mercury solution that weakens metals it comes into contact with. It
has obvious applications of painting car brakes, hull plates in a
ship or supporting beams in buildings. After a while the
embrittling agent has diffused into the metal and made it brittle,
and a shift in the load can make it break. The residues are
detectable, but only if the investigator specifically looks for
them.
Flexiknifes
A handy invention from N Conspiracy, a nanotech knife made of
flexible "smart" plastic. It looks and feels like a thick rubber
strap, but when it is sharply flipped the polymer reacts and the
whole knife stiffens into a fairly workable weapon with an edge
sharp enough to cut flesh. After being flipped the knife will
return to its original state in half an hour. N Conspiracy also
markets other designs based on these smart materials, and can
design custom tools based on them. Recipe: 230 IOU
