Shemarrian-related fan creations

[DhAkael]

*Staggers in looking weary, bleary eyed and exhausted*
IF anyone would like to contribute something (original, or based on the S.C.W.), please do so... my muse has gone on sabbitical and left her absinthe bottle behind. Meanwhile, I am falling down TIRED.
Note; if you get a kitten, make DAMN sure of it's age and nueter it ASAP!
A Cat in heat WILL kill your sleep-time.

[Toc Rat]

*Staggers in looking weary, bleary eyed and exhausted*
IF anyone would like to contribute something (original, or based on the S.C.W.), please do so... my muse has gone on sabbitical and left her absinthe bottle behind. Meanwhile, I am falling down TIRED.
Note; if you get a kitten, make DAMN sure of it's age and nueter it ASAP!
A Cat in heat WILL kill your sleep-time.

SCW?

I have been absent from the boards for a very long time now so I admit to being some what behind on the most current acronyms and such.

I have put some work into my own version of the Shemarrian false history. I had something long before the Shemarrian Nation book was ever put out but I went back and re-tooled it to make use of some of the ideas the book presented. I am close to being done with it. The main focus was not on creating new toys for the lovely lethal ladies but instead detail their false history. I'm a stickler for details like that and love internal consistency. Naturally since this is Palladium Books were are talking about, I have had many headaches over continuity/consistency issues but it gives me something to focus my OCD on. When it is ready, if anyone cares to read, I will post it for you.

[taalismn]

*Staggers in looking weary, bleary eyed and exhausted*
IF anyone would like to contribute something (original, or based on the S.C.W.), please do so... my muse has gone on sabbitical and left her absinthe bottle behind. Meanwhile, I am falling down TIRED.
Note; if you get a kitten, make DAMN sure of it's age and nueter it ASAP!
A Cat in heat WILL kill your sleep-time.

SCW?

I have been absent from the boards for a very long time now so I admit to being some what behind on the most current acronyms and such.

I have put some work into my own version of the Shemarrian false history. I had something long before the Shemarrian Nation book was ever put out but I went back and re-tooled it to make use of some of the ideas the book presented. I am close to being done with it. The main focus was not on creating new toys for the lovely lethal ladies but instead detail their false history. I'm a stickler for details like that and love internal consistency. Naturally since this is Palladium Books were are talking about, I have had many headaches over continuity/consistency issues but it gives me something to focus my OCD on. When it is ready, if anyone cares to read, I will post it for you.

SCW---Shemarrian Civil War(what we call the conflict between the canon puppet-Shemarrians and the Free Shemarrians, however they come to be).
And as for whatever you come up with? HELL YEAH we'll read it! We might even make use of it!

[DtMK]

I have a concept for something that would not only add to the Shemarrians, but could be a new concept in sci-fi combat tactics. In order to do so, I'd have to take some creative license with the tech available to the Mechanoids that came through that Archie reverse engineered, and what could be a quantum leap in its use. In essence, if Mechanoids are self-sufficient and capable of making not only more of their own kind, but other variants like the ones in the Mechanoids trilogy, wouldn't it stand to reason that they'd have some kind of schematic in their memory banks that could be accessed by the right hacker, or in this case, A.I.? If so, I think I have a concept that may become HUGE. And possibly usher in the rebirth of Ar-Chee Phoenix!

[taalismn]

I have a concept for something that would not only add to the Shemarrians, but could be a new concept in sci-fi combat tactics. In order to do so, I'd have to take some creative license with the tech available to the Mechanoids that came through that Archie reverse engineered, and what could be a quantum leap in its use. In essence, if Mechanoids are self-sufficient and capable of making not only more of their own kind, but other variants like the ones in the Mechanoids trilogy, wouldn't it stand to reason that they'd have some kind of schematic in their memory banks that could be accessed by the right hacker, or in this case, A.I.? If so, I think I have a concept that may become HUGE. And possibly usher in the rebirth of Ar-Chee Phoenix!

You're scaring me(goes for his megadamage security blanket).

[DtMK]

I created The BonePile for the Giant Monsters contest, I should hope I have the capability of a horror factor.

[kronos]

I have a concept for something that would not only add to the Shemarrians, but could be a new concept in sci-fi combat tactics. In order to do so, I'd have to take some creative license with the tech available to the Mechanoids that came through that Archie reverse engineered, and what could be a quantum leap in its use. In essence, if Mechanoids are self-sufficient and capable of making not only more of their own kind, but other variants like the ones in the Mechanoids trilogy, wouldn't it stand to reason that they'd have some kind of schematic in their memory banks that could be accessed by the right hacker, or in this case, A.I.? If so, I think I have a concept that may become HUGE. And possibly usher in the rebirth of Ar-Chee Phoenix!

This peeks my interest for sure.

[DtMK]

If it all goes well, it should up the smoke and mirrors tactics, even appear to be truly supernatural.

[DhAkael]

*perches in tree and waits for the posting to commence*

[DtMK]

Please pardon me if it's not polished, it's been a while since I've written and my muse has a revolving door.

Harbingers of Enigma part 1

The area that has been declared the Shemarrian Nation remains a place of mystery to many of the powers on the continent. Some choose to heed the warnings and not venture directly into such a combat zone, like the envoys of Lazlo who prefer to explore the outskirts, trying to gather any information from the locals or adventurers traveling through the area. Others are less than content, and enter the territory for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering on this foe like Free Quebec and the Coalition States. The Shemarrians continue to be secretive, aggressive and intolerant of those invading their sovereignty.

The most recent reports seem to be more confusing. Some parties have reported finding the remains of several battlegrounds, mercenaries, Splugorth raiding parties and the carcasses of various were-beasts. In some instances, the damage and telltale signs are obvious to the newest wilderness scout. Large bootprints and the unique prints of the Monst-Rex and Shemar-Wolves mixed with Altarans, Horune Pirates, etc. In many cases, the Shemarrians easily fight and decimate forces equal or double their numbers, all equipment such as weapons and ammunition stripped from the fallen. In other cases, it appears the only tracks departing the area are the impressions of robots, power armors or bestial tracks as the victors, followed by a Shemarrian party retrieving the bodies of their fallen, a common practice that only adds to their mystery.

The most confusing battlefields are questionable not only from the signs that are there, but aren't. In the cases of mercenaries and adventurers looking to make names for themselves, their forces aren't just attacked with precision, but with ruthlessness more akin to a demon or Splugorth party. Robots and power armors torn apart at the joints, weapons fore indicates many energy weapons discharged along with rail gun rounds, but some of the weapons, both mounted and hand held, indicate that the guns seemingly malfunctioned while being fired, and detonating from within. How could such a thing occur? The onboard computers shredded, the hard drives and black boxes wiped. In another case of a Splugorth raiding party, the telltale signs of carnage would at first be an attack by Shemarrian Berserkers, but the bodies of the slain Altarans seem to indicate being thrown or struck from a central position with incredible force, the only partial bootprint was larger than the normal Shemarrian track, Could this be one of the legendary War Goddesses? Perhaps. But the damage to the slave barge is the most perplexing. The hellish life form attached to the barge long dead, each of the giant eyes attached to the barge blasted and scorched, and the barge itself partially embedded into the ground as if it crashed from a great height...or thrown. Both possibilities send a shudder of confused fear into those who scour the wreckage. One doesn't know which is more frightening, the possibility of a Shemarrian with the strength to hurl a Splugorth slave barge a great distance and knock away a raiding party like a dog shaking itself dry after getting wet, or the possibility of a flying Shemarrian. Is it the Shemarrian itself flying, or on a flying Monst-Rex? What bizarre creature are they riding now, and have they begun to claim not only the land, but the skies above the Shemarrian Nation as their own?

In what may be the most frightening remains, a Free Quebec party came across a great battle on the outskirts of a forest. There have been reports of wild animal attacks among the villages and towns in the area, some suspected werewolves. The FQ party found several carcasses of part humanoid, part wolfen creatures. Standard weapons tests confirmed the creatures as werebeasts, as light laser or vibro-knife probes were ineffective but a silvered blade easily cut into the flesh. A small pack of six hunters were found stabbed, slashed and even burned. Some of the attacks were with acute and medical precision, others as if a chainsaw had attacked them. But the largest, assumed to be the alpha male, was most frightening. The eye sockets of the creature appeared to be burned away individually. This wasn't like a magic blast between the eyes, but someone, someTHING melted the eyes of a werewolf. What could possibly have the power to do that? Shemarrians seem to use technology, not magic. There have been reports of some kind of religious belief of their War Goddesses as being immortal members of what some call "The Ten", but even then, are these creatures going from warrior D-Bees who use power armor or bionics to full blown supernatural creatures? No one knows.

The only other reports are just as confusing and mysterious. Some locals have reported strange shadows overhead, like a large bird or power armor fling overhead, but there was no noise, no flapping, no engine or rockets. One village reports that a hunter fell off of a cliff, and surely would have fallen to his death. But at the last second, something stopped his impact, and he found himself floating above the ground. He then found himself righted and placed on his feet. He never felt any hand or anything grab him, but something did. The closest he could equate it to was a Mind Melter using telekinesis or a Ley Line Walker casting a spell. But there was no incantation, no one present. He looked, and heard a voice assure him he was safe, for he was under the protection of the Shemarrian Nation. He looked frantically to find the warrior woman, but couldn't see her. Finally out of desperation he looked up, and saw a figure, shining and winged with the sun behind it. As the hunter yelled out a thank you, he supposedly heard a voice as if the being were standing next to him. The voice was beautiful, an exotic accent as she spoke.

"Thank the Phoenix for your second chance at life"

With that, the form disappeared. Was this mysterious warrior woman a Shemarrian at all? Or does the Shemarrian Nation have its own religion after all, complete with...angels?

More to come soon.

[DtMK]

Oh, please feel free to let me know what you think so far. I know it's cryptic, but it'll make sense. In the meantime, any ideas or theories as to what's going on or how it's being done?

[Toc Rat]

Oh, please feel free to let me know what you think so far. I know it's cryptic, but it'll make sense. In the meantime, any ideas or theories as to what's going on or how it's being done?

Interesting. Archie remaking his phoenix robot and adding it to the growing lore of the Shemarrians. Certainly something that could be done, the whole part of "being reborn from its ashes" if he were to use technology like you are proposing. It could be a good element to add. He and Hagan could even create an entire pantheon, one which could include a male god that just happened to resemble Hagan exactly. This would still fit in with their female dominate society because he wouldn't be a man but a GOD

[taalismn]

Approved!

[DtMK]

Thanks! After seeing some of the works here I admit I don't just feel a little rusty but almost oxidized. There's a lot of creativity here, I'm glad people like it so far. But as far as Archie rebuilding his alter ego, all in good time. There have been some hints dropped here. A possible Shemarrian angel sighting, and angels are harbingers, messengers. What that message is may still remain unclear. Any ideas how the attacks happened yet?

[Toc Rat]

Thanks! After seeing some of the works here I admit I don't just feel a little rusty but almost oxidized. There's a lot of creativity here, I'm glad people like it so far. But as far as Archie rebuilding his alter ego, all in good time. There have been some hints dropped here. A possible Shemarrian angel sighting, and angels are harbingers, messengers. What that message is may still remain unclear. Any ideas how the attacks happened yet?

No but then I must confess to having skimmed through your posting. Let me to a more in depth reading...........

Well based on the words and phrases you are placing emphasis on, I would have to say this mysterious flying phoenix. As for the part of exploding/malfunctioning weapons, combined with what you were talking about in your first post, would indicate you are hinting at a particularly nasty computer virus hatched by the dynamic duo of Archie and Hagan. It could also be that you mean this new leap in technology they got from studying Mechanoid tech.

The two do not have to be mutually exclusive either, the phoenix could be the delivery means for this computer virus/new tech. Perhaps nanites of some kind? Granted Archie doesn't like to make them but he certainly has the capability and its not like he hasn't changed his mind on things before. For the longest time he was dead set against creating neurointelligences but he changed that policy with regards to the new model Shemarrians and also his "son"; so his making use of his nanotech capabilities is not out of the question. That is assuming of course the process you are referring to has anything to do with nanotech.

[DtMK]

Nice speculation Toc Rat, and a possibility. But how would a nanotech virus be potent enough to burn through a werebeast's eyes? Something to think about. And keep the interest coming, I'll write more when I can.

[Toc Rat]

Nice speculation Toc Rat, and a possibility. But how would a nanotech virus be potent enough to burn through a werebeast's eyes? Something to think about. And keep the interest coming, I'll write more when I can.

Oh that, to be honest I had forgotten about that but now that you bring it up, silver nanites would be capable of doing that. Why Archie or Hagan would make them do that is beyond me though.

[DtMK]

Good theories, but here's a hint. Before anyone ever heard of nanites, there's a technology that's been in use by the military since the 1990's.

[Toc Rat]

Good theories, but here's a hint. Before anyone ever heard of nanites, there's a technology that's been in use by the military since the 1990's.

MREs?

[DtMK]

Right. Because MRE's will make a werewolf's eyes burn and explode. Hell, I need to stock up on them before my next game!

[Toc Rat]

Right. Because MRE's will make a werewolf's eyes burn and explode. Hell, I need to stock up on them before my next game!

I knew it! The ole MRE bomb strikes again!

[taalismn]

Right. Because MRE's will make a werewolf's eyes burn and explode. Hell, I need to stock up on them before my next game!

I knew it! The ole MRE bomb strikes again!

Actually, according to Schlock Mercenary, any sufficiently old MRE rots into a gourmet delicacy . It's the FRESH ones you have to worry about.

[Toc Rat]

Right. Because MRE's will make a werewolf's eyes burn and explode. Hell, I need to stock up on them before my next game!

I knew it! The ole MRE bomb strikes again!

Actually, according to Schlock Mercenary, any sufficiently old MRE rots into a gourmet delicacy . It's the FRESH ones you have to worry about.

I WAS talking about the new(er) ones. The ones that include that nice heating packet that reacts to water.

[taalismn]

Good theories, but here's a hint. Before anyone ever heard of nanites, there's a technology that's been in use by the military since the 1990's.

Directed EMP? Microwaves?

[Toc Rat]

Good theories, but here's a hint. Before anyone ever heard of nanites, there's a technology that's been in use by the military since the 1990's.

Directed EMP? Microwaves?

Did Archie learn how to make them out of silver? I was under the impression you would stick a were-(insert animal type here) into an industrial microwave, set it to shake and bake for an hour and STILL nothing would happen because silver wasn't involved.

[taalismn]

Good theories, but here's a hint. Before anyone ever heard of nanites, there's a technology that's been in use by the military since the 1990's.

Directed EMP? Microwaves?

Did Archie learn how to make them out of silver? I was under the impression you would stick a were-(insert animal type here) into an industrial microwave, set it to shake and bake for an hour and STILL nothing would happen because silver wasn't involved.

Right. What was I thinking? What was I drinking? Or rather, what SHOULD I be drinking?
Let's see, a technology the military's had since the 1990s.....

[kronos]

This is interesting, and I always thought the Shemarrians need more air support.
Hey Taalismn, what about high speed aerial war mounts or fighters for interception purposes. I could see some chromed out sleek bird style from a few, or maybe one based on that snake creature with feathers around it's head from central american myth and lore, can't remember the name of it, but starts with a c.

As for nanites burning out a werewolf's eyes.. they may not need to be made of silver, but if programmed and created properly, could be designed to counter a were creature's natural resistance on a far smaller scale, down to cellular level, and the easiest access is through the eyes, burning them out as they burrow through them and causing organs to react violently once inside and causing them to explode from over pressure in the chest cavity?
Just an idea.

Look forward to more!

[DhAkael]

This is interesting, and I always thought the Shemarrians need more air support.
Hey Taalismn, what about high speed aerial war mounts or fighters for interception purposes. I could see some chromed out sleek bird style from a few, or maybe one based on that snake creature with feathers around it's head from central american myth and lore, can't remember the name of it, but starts with a c.

As for nanites burning out a werewolf's eyes.. they may not need to be made of silver, but if programmed and created properly, could be designed to counter a were creature's natural resistance on a far smaller scale, down to cellular level, and the easiest access is through the eyes, burning them out as they burrow through them and causing organs to react violently once inside and causing them to explode from over pressure in the chest cavity?
Just an idea.

Look forward to more!

Kronos...check back... actually, check the very first page.
there's a WHACK load of aeriel support riding mounts AND fighters already been posted on this here thread.

[kronos]

This is interesting, and I always thought the Shemarrians need more air support.
Hey Taalismn, what about high speed aerial war mounts or fighters for interception purposes. I could see some chromed out sleek bird style from a few, or maybe one based on that snake creature with feathers around it's head from central american myth and lore, can't remember the name of it, but starts with a c.

As for nanites burning out a werewolf's eyes.. they may not need to be made of silver, but if programmed and created properly, could be designed to counter a were creature's natural resistance on a far smaller scale, down to cellular level, and the easiest access is through the eyes, burning them out as they burrow through them and causing organs to react violently once inside and causing them to explode from over pressure in the chest cavity?
Just an idea.

Look forward to more!

Kronos...check back... actually, check the very first page.
there's a WHACK load of aeriel support riding mounts AND fighters already been posted on this here thread.

I forgot how many there are.. I'll have to double check, but I don't think there are any really high speed ones for interception/quick response.. like gotta get there 2 hours ago speeds.. LUDACRIS speed! (or however you spell it, ala spaceballs). Hehe.. I can see ghostriders making a joke about that XP

I'll double check the posts, but I still like airborne Shemarrians. I so want to do a Apocalypse Now (I think that's the movie) moment with Flight of the Valkyries playing scene, with air transports dropping off a horde of berserker Shemarrians and such.
My play group uses music a lot in some scenes to really get the imagination going for epic stuff. There's one player that's an operator that as a nice collection of weapons and armour he sells and likes playing "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim when he shows off his wares

[taalismn]

[


I'll double check the posts, but I still like airborne Shemarrians. I so want to do a Apocalypse Now (I think that's the movie) moment with Flight of the Valkyries playing scene, with air transports dropping off a horde of berserker Shemarrians and such.
:

That's what the flying Monstrexes are for, although proper flying gunships haven't yet appeared in the terrestrial Shemarrian forces yet, although DhAkael's temporal 'slip' between Rifts Earth and the Shemarrian Star Nation makes it entirely possible that more powerful units like the Hawkmoon flying warmounts and Skullcrusher Draxos could appear in support of, say, a Shemarrian assault on Atlantis or Chi-Town(especially if ARCHIE-3 and/or Hagan took refuge there), but if I were a CS grunt and saw a Draxos coming at me, I'd start $#!++ing bricks for a bunker.
Canonical ARCHIE-3 isn't much for building big honking gunships, not just yet; he's still more infatuated with individual robot units that can slip away into the wilderness and maintain the mystique of powerful badasses lurking in the woods, ready to pounce on nosey travellers.

[DhAkael]

Next up is the Celestial.
Preliminary brainstorming and rough notes have been done. Now to clean it up and add some fluffy text.
This could take a while (IRL has come down hard with size 13 CS Trooper ceramite jack-boots).

[taalismn]

Next up is the Celestial.
Preliminary brainstorming and rough notes have been done. Now to clean it up and add some fluffy text.
This could take a while (IRL has come down hard with size 13 CS Trooper ceramite jack-boots).

And yet it can be claimed that RL's adversities are what fuel our creativity. I know when I have LOTS of time to spend on projects like posts, I wind up lazing the day away...but give me a week's straight worth of back-to-back work, and I'll be whomping up several blazing ideas a day.

[DtMK]

RL's been kicking my butt lately, but I'll try to write part 2 of Harbingers of Enigma when I can.

[taalismn]

**FFFFFRRRUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**
"YYYAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
SMASH!THUD!CRUNCH!
#GaspPANTWHHEEEZZEpantgasp#
"Note to my travelogue: To save on onboard consumables and logistics, Shemarrians use sonic-based showers aboard their starships, rather than water-based ones. Ahem...it is inadvisable for non-Shemarrians, or likely non-cyborgs, to use these as Setting One is apparently set to 'smash gallstones inside your body' supersonic frequencies-"
**HHHHUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**
"OoohhhAAAHHHHooohhhhAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhOOOOHHHHH!!!!"
"-The other setting is apparently set to 'full body vibrator' frequencies with a particularly deletarious -at least to one's dignity- effect for vibration-sensitive species-as evidenced by the experience of my female companion on this trip. I am currently debating whether or not to attempt to save her from her own session in a Shemarrian sonic shower, but as I currently feel like I've been jackhammered by a wrecking crew of ants all over my body, any such effort on my part, gallant or not, must remain purely theoretical at the current time."

[DhAkael]

"Note to my travelogue: To save on onboard consumables and logistics, Shemarrians use sonic-based showers aboard their starships, rather than water-based ones.

Ah yes; the splendor of mixed-crew missions.

[taalismn]

"Note to my travelogue: To save on onboard consumables and logistics, Shemarrians use sonic-based showers aboard their starships, rather than water-based ones.

Ah yes; the splendor of mixed-crew missions.

Be glad it's not hot liquid chrome sprayers/enamelers...

[taalismn]

Shemarrian Foci Drone
(Aka ‘Faux Eye’)
(Note: ‘PPE gel’ and magic emulation based on Damon Sutton’s article for Rifter #53)

#”No, I DON’T know how they got inside our perimeter without us knowing! I DO know they took out the generators and have released the animals! I mean the animals! The gladitorial monsters! They’re in the main compound now, trampling my troops! You there, zobi! Get your men over to the slave pens! They’re likely going to go for the slaves! Stop them! Kill all the slaves if necessary! Take these damn drones with you! May as well get SOME use from these useless floaters, damn ey-what the--?! Krelgar’s claws! TREAS-(buzz of vibroblades)!!”#

The ‘Foci’ is an infiltration and sabotage drone that was developed by the Shemarrians for the specific purpose of further hurting Splugorth interests. The existence of the ‘Foci’(‘Foes-Eye’) was only recently revealed as a Shemarrian construct. Prior, the drone was mistaken for a tool of the Splugorth.
The Foci is deliberately constructed to look like one of the hundreds of variants of the ‘floating eye jar’ Eylor drones created by the Splugorth; a large liquid-filled container with a giant eyeball floating in it, suspended below a broad-rimmed cap of technology, with six robotic tentacles/weapons mounts attached to it. In reality, the Foci is a purely technological artifact, a robot drone propelled by contra-gravity, its powers technological trickery, and the fluid suspending the ‘Eylor’ in reality a quantity of the PPE gelatine originally created by ARCHIE-3 to fool psychic spies that the Shemarrians were actual living beings. The Foci is programmed to be sneaky and stealthy, to blend with the countryside and the Splugorth urban scene on its missions.
The Foci was originally believed to be associated with the so-called ‘Monster Tribe’, but in fact the drone is a creation of the Ghostriders.
Foci drones are created with misdirection in mind; the drones are often sent to Splugorth-held worlds and positions to scout them out, infiltrate enemy positions, and disrupt the Splugorth organization. To the casual observer, the Foci resembles just one of thousands of Splugorth Eylor drones going about the business of spying on the populace, and thus is not likely to attract any attention. Thus SSN forces were often able to gather important intelligence and move espionage assets quite close to enemy facilities before being detected. In many cases, the drones were able to get within Splugorth bases and communities and sabotage key targets, or at least sew confusion in support of Shemarrian attacks.
Even when it was discovered that the Foci were being used by the Shemarrians, it was simply regarded as further evidence that the Shemarrians were a former Splugorth slave-race that successfully rebelled, and now use their former slavemasters’ technologies and artifacts against them.
Note: Foci drones have NOT been Awakened; they are strictly ‘hard-tech’. While quite clever for drone intelligences, they do NOT have personalities, simulated or acquired, and are regarded as simple and expendable tools by the Shemarrians.

Type: EShe-R207Gr Foci
Class: Scout Drone
Crew: None; robot drone
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 100
Main Optical Sensor 50
Tentacles(6) 30 each
Height: 6 ft
Width: 6 ft in diameter
Length: 6 ft in diameter
Weight: 600-800 lbs
Cargo: None
Physical Strength: Equiv. Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Nuclear
Speed:
(Flying) Hover to 75 MPH, maximum altitude of 1,000 ft
(Underwater) Can move underwater at 15 MPH, maximum depth of 1,000 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar/Shemarrian Star Nation
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 3 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in as required.

*Broad-band Radio Recording/Monitoring---The Foci is constantly monitoring local communications, recording communications traffic for later re-transmission and analysis, and parsing through the chatter for key words that may indicate stepped-up activity.

*Laser Illuminator---Range: 7 miles

*PPE Kirillian Sensor---Range: 5,000 ft

*Self-Destruct---Does 4d6x10 MD to a 50 ft radius

Weapons Systems:
1) Pulse Lasers(6)---Each of the six tentacles has an energy blaster built into it, typically a laser, but other types can be substituted.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single shot, 9d6 MD per 3-shot burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Alternatively, the Foci can be fitted with the following(all or individual tentacles)”
a) Plasma ---The plasma bolts can often be mistaken for magic fire balls
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per blast
(‘Spray’ Mode) Range drops to 500 ft, but the bolts do 3d6 MD to a 20 ft wide area.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Ion---The ion beams can often be mistaken for magic lightning bolts
Range: 1,800 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

c) Particle Beam---The beams can often be mistaken for magic lightning bolts
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD single shot, 1d6x10+20 MD per triple shot burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Ion Shock Blaster----Mounted atop the drone in a small turret is a powerful electrical blaster.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per blast. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees, and a 75% chance of permanently frying nanotech devices(like Armor-dissolving nanites or RMK/IRMSS systems).
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Vibro-Blades(6)--Each of the tentacles sports a retractable vibroblade
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD

4) ‘Magic’ Weaponry---To continue the deception that the ‘bots are actually Eyes of Eylor, the Foci have a number of simulated ‘magic’ weapons.
*Blinding Flash----Nothing but a high-powered strobe light; effective range of 60 ft, and a 10 ft area of effect. Effectively flash-blinds unprotected eyes for 1d4 melees.
*Magic Net---Really a fine spray of ultra-fine high-strength adhesive plastic fibers that hold with a P.S. of 40. Holds for 1d6 minutes before the adhesive begins to break down.
*Chameleon---Really an adapatation of Naruni adaptative camouflage. The drone’s surfacing can quickly change color and pattern to adapt to its surroundings. This is only truly effective if the drone is standing still against a solid background(rockface, building, forest, etc.). Takes 1d4 melees to adjust, and results in -20% to others to detect ambush/concealment.

5) Chemical Sprayer
Range: 300 ft and typically covers a 300 ft x50 ft area.
Damage:(Varies by chemical agent)
(Smoke Screen) Lasts 1d4+3 melee rounds.
(Paralysis Gas) Save versus lethal poison, or this nerve agent causes muscle lock of the volunary muscle functions for 1d6 minutes.
(Fuel Air Explosive)----This is a combustible gas that is sprayed to fuel flames. In confined spaces, it can also have an explosive effect. A single full-melee spray of aerosol fuel can fill a 20 ft x20ft x10 ft room, with a reulting explosion that does 5d6 MD to everything in it when ignited.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Carries enough liquid for 50 blasts/applications

Hand to Hand Combat:
Actions/Attacks per Melee: 7
Initiative: +1
Strike: +5
Parry: +8
Dodge: +6
Roll: +2
Pull: +2
Disarm: +3
Entangle: +4
Damage:
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Tentacle Slash/Punch 1d6 MD
Tentacle Crush/Squeeze(full melee) 4d6 MD
Body Block/Ram 1d6 MD

Programming:
-Basic Military(modified)
Land Navigation 94%
Intelligence 85%
Weapons Systems 90%
Sensory Equipment 90%
Radio: Basic 94%
Optics Systems 90%
Laser Communications 94%
Surveillance 90%
TV/Video 94%
Cryptography 80%
Electronic Countermeasures 94%
Photography 94%
Camouflage 80%
Prowl 80%
Demolitions 94%
Demolitions: Underwater 90%

Variants:
Depending on the anticipated mission profile, the Foci can be customized to carry out specific tasks with special payloads, such as specialized sensors or munitions.
*Jamming Platform---Dual purpose radio jammer, that can pump out enough multi-wavelength white noise to jam civilian band communications with 90% effectiveness, and military comms with 70% effectiveness, over a 20 mile radius. Or it can be used offensively, to foil ALL radar-guided weaponry in a 15 mile radius(-2 to strike)

*EMP Bomber---This kamikaze fires off an intense area of effect electromagnetic pulse that can knock out electrical systems.
Damage: 1d6x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
EM effects: Used against unshielded power grids(such as cities and towns), the particle blast has a 99% chance of knocking down electrical systems, including vehicles, in an 10-mile radius of the point of detonation. Unprotected computers and other hardware not protected by surge protectors, and hooked into the common power grid, may still be affected up to a hundred miles or more away by power surges through the power lines.
The EMP is less effective against shielded systems such as those on space structures(25%) and military systems(10% for surface military vehicles), which are hardened against radiation.

*Kamikaze----This type is tasked with one-way missions to deliver a warhead(typically a tactical nuclear/plasma weapon) to a target. The warhead generally falls into the Long Range Missile warhead range(or may substitute the nuclear cruise missile/torpedo warheads from Coalition Navy for ‘city-buster’ missions).

*Nanite Sprayer---This type of drone has been fitted to spray delayed-action nanites. Typically the drone has enough nanite solution to cover a square mile of ground, and the typical dissolver nanites do 3d6 MD per melee for 2d4 melees. The activation of the nanites can be delayed to go off as much as 30 minutes.

*Magic Disruptor---This type, developed in a rare bit of intense cooperation with the Wayfinders, uses special biological components(actually tailored transgenic bacteria) to generate a temporary disruption in local magic flows. Effect covers a 100 ft radius and lasts 1d4 minutes per activation. When activated, the disruption field causes the following:
-Duration of active spells is HALVED.
-Spells cast in the area of effect will cost TWICE as much PPE, and have HALF duration, range, and effect(including damage).
-Sensory spells, including those used by magical constructs, will be effectively blinded within the area of effect.
-Purely magical constructs, such as Automatons, animated statuary, and animated skeletons/corpses will find their speed reduced to 25% of normal, and their normal actions/attacks per melee HALVED.
The tailored bacteria can be activated up to 25 times before needing replacement.

[DhAkael]

Shemarrian Foci Drone
(Aka ‘Faux Eye’)
(Note: ‘PPE gel’ and magic emulation based on Damon Sutton’s article for Rifter #53)

Random Sploogie minion; "Well, this is peculi...why in Splyns mighty orb is this confounded thing -BEEPING- like-
BOOM

Joolea Chylde (Ghostrider Tribe advanced scout); *watches pretty mushroom cloud*
"OOOOOOO! AAAAHHHH OOOOOH!"

[taalismn]

Shemarrian Foci Drone
(Aka ‘Faux Eye’)
(Note: ‘PPE gel’ and magic emulation based on Damon Sutton’s article for Rifter #53)

Random Sploogie minion; "Well, this is peculi...why in Splyns mighty orb is this confounded thing -BEEPING- like-
BOOM

Joolea Chylde (Ghostrider Tribe advanced scout); *watches pretty mushroom cloud*
"OOOOOOO! AAAAHHHH OOOOOH!"

*KNOCK*KNOCK*
"Who in Splynn's there interrupting me at this time of night?! Go away!"
#Candygram!#
"OOOHHH!!! Come in! Come i--"
BOOM!

[taalismn]

As if Upgrade Rites and Elite classes weren't enough variety, I'm contemplating doing an Expanded Random Progen Rolls table set for those of you who REALLY want to know what happens when a Blood Rider Agni Berserker falls in love with a Sapphire Cobra Medusi Priestess, or your Assault Cyborg gets propositioned by an EShemar looking for something more than a good time and a once night stand, or that neural intelligence android gets adopted into the tribe.
Afraid yet? Yeah, if you REALLY want to know what the offspring of an EShemar and a BOLO might be like, you might want to start shivering now.

[DhAkael]

As if Upgrade Rites and Elite classes weren't enough variety, I'm contemplating doing an Expanded Random Progen Rolls table set for those of you who REALLY want to know what happens when a Blood Rider Agni Berserker falls in love with a Sapphire Cobra Medusi Priestess, or your Assault Cyborg gets propositioned by an EShemar looking for something more than a good time and a once night stand, or that neural intelligence android gets adopted into the tribe.
Afraid yet? Yeah, if you REALLY want to know what the offspring of an EShemar and a BOLO might be like, you might want to start shivering now.

YOU sir...have no soul

[taalismn]

As if Upgrade Rites and Elite classes weren't enough variety, I'm contemplating doing an Expanded Random Progen Rolls table set for those of you who REALLY want to know what happens when a Blood Rider Agni Berserker falls in love with a Sapphire Cobra Medusi Priestess, or your Assault Cyborg gets propositioned by an EShemar looking for something more than a good time and a once night stand, or that neural intelligence android gets adopted into the tribe.
Afraid yet? Yeah, if you REALLY want to know what the offspring of an EShemar and a BOLO might be like, you might want to start shivering now.

YOU sir...have no soul

Well, I do, but I keep it hidden under all the junk in my house.
Though admittedly I haven't seen it for a few years and I'm not EXACTLY sure of where it is now...
Probably in need of a good dusting...

[taalismn]

To keep busy:

Combat Section Leader Thesa Lee Ender heard the enemy counterattack coming before she saw it. She was already crouched against the bulkhead waiting for it to come down, eyes in nightvision mode against the darkened passageway.
She caught motion at the end of the corridor. Her arm snapped up, wrist laser pulsing out at the figure leaning around the corner.
The resulting explosion tore off the entire end of the corridor, the blast almost bowling Thesa over on her backside. She stared at the flames and heard the distant screams down the hall. Regardless, several poorly aimed bursts of fire came down the hall, sparking off the walls. Thesa blasted several more laser pulses back in return; the lasers might not ricochet aroind corners like the bullets, but the glowing and burning holes they left in the far wall would give the enemy assault team second thoughts, especially if hot melt-spald was tossed off by the superheated metal. Still, the situation didn’t look good.
Must have detonated a grenade or a rocket launcher! Looked like the locals were getting over their inhibitions about using heavy weaponry inside their underwater command base. That was not good. Even with the superior edge in surprise, firepower, and sheer fighting skill, the Shemarrian commandoes were still badly outnumbered and far from backup if the local garrison starting acting smart...or desperate.
Thesa e-commed her fellow section-leader; “Althea, status report, and tell me you’re done? Things are getting tight down here!”
#”A bit busy here defusing a potential time-bomb.”#
“Well, hurry up and cut the blue wire! We’re running out of time down here!”
#” Would love to, but the wires are sentient biological components in a psychoactive weapons system put together by maniacs. I can speed things up, but that will require either killing said components or triggering an Akira-category metacatastrophe. You want to choose which?”#
“Point taken, but I’m serious about the enemy getting their $#!+ together! If you’re not ready to roll and soon, I’m going to have to start opening sections of this place to the sea and force them to come scuba-diving after us!“
#”Will do what I can. Gamma Team’s sending you up some reinforcements, though, and that should help some!”#
“Reinforcements?” Gamma Team was responsible for demolition-wiring the production sector of the giant underwater weapons research complex. They were specialists, and though they had some dedicated security to watch over them while they played with wires and circuits, they didn’t go with much in the way of reserves. Unless they were losing their own security contingent to send warriors to assist, or detaching their own people from their responsibilities rigging demolitions, Thesa didn’t know how they could be sending reinforcements-
That’s when a small swarm of general-issue Shemarrian IFF IDs suddenly popped up on her sensorium.
A trumping sound came from behind her, and a line of several dozen sleek, streamlined, androgynous gunmetal-gray androids marched into view, half of them armed with locally-made firearms likely looted from fallen defenders or armories, the others armed with various blunt weapons improvized from tools and lengths of pipe. Aside from their weaponry, they all looked mass-production identical as they streamed by her and settled into position along the corridor...except for one halfway back.
This one caught her eye...it was DRESSED. Admittedly, it was a pair of combat fatigues and combat webbing, likely pulled off a corpse of one of the commando’s earlier opponents, hastily pulled over the sleek gun-metal gray android body, but the gear immediately identified the androgynous warmachine as an individual. And whereas the other androids had a mindless look about them, the dark-lensed slits of this one, furrowed under a hastily-burned Shemarrian five-pointed star on its forehead, seemed to gleam with something else.
Thesa had to wonder if the Ecs had somehow managed to ‘Awaken’ this one, but normally drones of this sort didn’t start acting like individuals for some time after being meta-virused.
The ‘bot in question spotted her, stepped up to her, and snapped off a salute.
/”Master-Sargeant Stone, reporting for duty, SIR!”/ Its voice was metallic and precise; though the Shemarrian had no idea where it was speaking from; the design of the face featured no mouth. Yet, somehow its manner seemed almost cocky.
Thesa felt a shade of relief and a twinge of alarm. Relief that she wasn’t going to be dealing with a proselytizing meta-coder drone, and alarm because she recognized the work of the resident Ghost Rider hacker-shamaness Althea Wozniak Neuromancer. She knew the name ‘Master-Sargeant Stone’ as one of the hacker’s archived net-RPG personacoms, a simulation warrior from some ancient interactive combat game.
“You’re one of Woz’s downloads?”
/”I have the honor of being inducted under General Wozniak’s command, SIR!”/
GENERAL Wozniak? Oh, didn’t that sound self-promoting!
“How much do you understand of our tactical situation, Master-Sargeant?”
/”General Wozniak gave me her latest tac-update and terrain layout, SIR!”/
Good; Althea gave her a personacom with real-time combat sim flexibility. She pulled up a holo-map from her arm gauntlet interface and flipped it around to show the battle-roid.
“ We’re here, holding the central access trunks for these decks here, and we have the airlocks on the perimeter. The mind-witches tell me the enemy’s going to try burning down through the floor roofs not far from here. But we’re being distracted by their forces coming along the regular access routes, like here. We need to have our forces ready to repel their ambush, while not leaving our flanks exposed.”
The android snapped off another one of those starched-crease salutes and nodded, lifting its confiscated rifle.
/”Count on me and my men, SIR! We’ll show those Fascists what it means to take on the Immortals of Simple Company!”/
With that the ebony legion marched off at a run in the indicated direction.
Thesa was still staring after them when an e-comm floated into her sensorium net.
#“Did you get my reinforcements?”#
“I got them, GENERAL Woz!”
The hacker refused to rise at the bait. #“Good. I’ll send more along as soon as they’re reprogrammed. Most of them will be lurch-and-punch cannon fodder, but I’ll whip up some tactical commanders to give you a better handle using them.”#
“More RPG NPC characters?”
#”Some of them are quite brilliant in a simple way.”#
“How many can you send me?”
#“Their inventory says five hundred thousand warehoused here. Once we got the hang of using the diagnostic gear here to download new orders into them, I expect to get the whole lot programmed and marching withing thirty minutes if you give me that long-”#
“FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND?! Holy---!” With those numbers, even if they were just dumb robo-zombies, they’d be able to HOLD, no, take over the whole damn complex!
#“Hey, we’re here to take away their war toys, right? How about us stealing some of them as well?”#
Behind Thesa, the sound of heavy automatic weapons fire, punctuated by the report of heavier weapons, the clang of metal striking metal, and the occasional distant scream, told her the latest recruits to the Ghost Riders were already hard at work.

[DhAkael]

Note; NEVER get the Ghost Rider tribe angry at ones self.

[taalismn]

Note; NEVER get the Ghost Rider tribe angry at ones self.

Yeah, I kinda figured they were overdue for some more exposure.
And if the Shemarrians played regular RPGs, I imagine the Ghost Riders would be the rules loophole munchkins.
The Skullcrushers would be playing Real (Wo)Men
The Hawkmoons would be Real Roleplayers
Blood Riders would be Hack and Slash swashbucklers...ALL THE TIME.
The Wayfinders are constantly distracted going through the host's library and video collection.
The Wolf's Path players would be trying to get everybody to coordinate(with themselves in charge, of course)
The Horrorwoods are busy playing with the dog or kittens in the house
The Darkwaters are rather monotone because they're distracted by the pile of work they brought with them
And the Sapphire Cobra just spiked the punchbowl

[taalismn]

A Visit to Crossover Junction(With Snakes):

Ouji Janome was in fine form as he lectured to his new acquaintance who had literally run into him in the street. If he had time to think prior, the short and bald headed (well, ONLY) priest of the Golden Serpent Society might have simply brushed off the little encounter, but he found himself explaining himself at length, expounding his beliefs and his occupation, and what had led to both. In retrospect he could not have explained WHY he was doing so; he was not particularly given to spontaneously proselytizing to random strangers, especially to obvious foreigners, but somehow, for some reason, this felt RIGHT.
"On the fourth morning, I was too weak to get up when I saw before me--it must have discerned the dishonest heart within me, for the serpent raised its head and coiled and sprang, biting my bare calf."
"When I came to, I expected to be dead from the poison burning through my body, but I saw an endless desert, and what seemed to be a man, sitting, waiting for me. This man was completely naked, but he shone bright with gold, and around him was a great golden serpent, wound around his powerful hips, around his chest, and up onto his shoulders. Majestically he said, "I am the creator of this universe, and you and your fellow beings are gods!"
Janome rambled on of his revelations and the miracles he felt possible in them, his voice cracking with excitement as he pushed on.
“And that is how I came to found the Golden Serpent World Salvation Magnificent Prayer Association! So that the message of what I saw and experienced that day might be shared with all! That-”
Janome trailed off as took notice of the expression on the tall well-dressed woman standing next to him.
She was smiling, a small smile, almost a smirk. The look she was giving him was studied and studying, the look of some older and calmer intelligence evaluating an interesting lesser lifeform. Suddenly Janome felt very self-conscious of the spectacle he must present to the woman, and he began fingering the comically broad ruffled collar of his priestly robes, even as his voice took on a note of defensiveness.
“You...think...I’m crazy. That I made this all up.”
“Not at all! I just think you’re mistaken. You’re so close to the truth, but you’re wrong about some of the details. A MAN wrapped in a snake? Unless the Goddess meant to test and tease you, SHE would appear as a woman wrapped in a snake.”
As if on cue, the woman’s blouse sleeve bulged, and a very long and VERY lethal cobalt blue snake slithered out along her arm, its gaze as steady and intent as her own.
Janome’s eyes widened.
“Now, let me tell YOU about the Sapphire Cobra...”


Jinsaku Ajo grinned in anticipation, rubbing his hands together in sinister glee as he looked upon the proof of his plans coming together. The preparations were nearly complete. His technicians were packing the last of the equipment they would need for Utsuse Miho’s last and arguably greatest performance. Soon they would be over at the Production Minos concert hall, ready to collect everything he needed for his masterpiece!
Below him the meddlesome young Kuriyagawa woman floated naked and nearly lifeless in the gel extraction tank, her role in all this all but over. Her leeched-out lifeforce and the apparent affection that Mima’s little git held for her would be the perfect bait for old Professor Mima’s brat, and soon he would have all the pieces to make his dreams for Ajo Heavy Industries a reality! Mima’s brat, Mima’s formula, and enough Gel* to make his PPORs the most-sought-after weapon of every military in the industralized world!
So caught up in his internal triumphant monologue was he that he barely registered the sounds around him, or more specifically above and behind him. That is, until he suddenly got an impression of dark coils suddenly dropping around him.
What felt like thick steel cables wrapped around him, tightening to just short of bone-cracking extreme pressure around his arms, his legs, his chest, and his throat. Ajo’s breath huffed out of him as he collapsed to the floor before he could articulate a curse, a call for assistance, or even an out of character for him scream.

Then the coils around him convulsed and twisted, and Ajo found himself being rolled on the floor until he was face-up. There must have been coils around his head as well, because he couldn’t move his head much either, catching only a glimpse of steel-gray scaled cable or coils enwrapping him.

“Heh! Really, we expected better security around here! Big bad robotics firm with a secret agenda and a paranoid maniac chief executive and we just slipped right through and down to your little shop of horrors here. Pathetic. Really pathetic for a diabolical mastermind.“

Ajo started at the soft, almost hissed, voice. He found himself looking up at a tall gaijin woman clad in a tight, snake-scale patterned outfit that seemed to shimmer with the colors of the room around her. Dark hair fell around her face, and dark eyes...were they slit-pupiled?...stared down at him. And her hair seemed to move of its own accord...were those ANTENNAE flicking at her temples?
“Miss Mima and her friends are gathering for a rescue attempt, but we figured why wait? We could get in here sooner. We’re also much better at this sort of thing. More experienccceeee. ”
“Who...thehell....are...you...?!” Ajo angrily bit out against the pressure constraining him, putting as much of a snarl into his voice as the constriction around his chest allowed.
“Oh, us? Our names would be meaningless to you, but we’re friends of Tokiko Mima. What a FASCINATING child! A mystery and a riddle and question in that one! What a beauty she’ll be when next she sheds her old skin and reaches her next evolution! When we heard from certain associates of ours that you were harassing her and her friends, and that you were holding Miss Kuriyagawa hostage, we just HAD to get involved!”
There was a sound of glass breaking, a liquid tumbling noise. The woman glanced over where Ajo had been looking and gloating only a few minutes earlier.
“Ah, and just in time too. If we can find her lifeforce that you pulled out of her, she’ll get it back, then we’ll hand her back to her friends at our temple. If not, well, if our own healers can’t revive her, our Valkari won’t have far to go for our next NeShemarrrr.” The woman’s attention returned to Ajo.
“Now, I was going to simply have you constricted to death, just as you squeezed the life out of your victims, but some bright police detective might see similiarities between your broken body and a boa constrictor’s grip, and that might draw suspicion to our good friends at the Golden Serpent Association. Nice fellow, that Janome, but he really needs to lighten up...and listen to some fashion advice. Besides, given your fetish for machines, I think you’d rather enjoy too much being squeezed to death by a cyberoid.”
The woman’s gaze turned cold, cold, liquid helium cold, and she smiled again, a predator’s smile with white teeth that might have been carved of solid ice for all its warmth.
“No, I’ve decided that since you liked using your machines to make a solid of the soul and lifeforce of others, to be burnt up in your robots, it would be justice if our nanomachines made your body into a liquid. Just a few adjustments to our Serpent’s Kiss did the trick, and when that’s done, all we’ll need is a hose and some bleach for cleanup. Enjoy, Ajo, you were so close to, but so far from, so many of your dreamssss...”
Ajo was still trying to understand that last part when he felt fangs bite into his neck, then what seemed like liquid fire entered his blood and surged up into his brain. Acid pain bathed his consciousness and hot agony replaced Jinsaku Ajo’s world as he began to dissolve.




*Gel---An ectoplasmic solid precipitated of the lifeforce of living beings. A material medium for the stuff of the soul. In Rifts Terms; solid PPE, but more closely linked to a person’s Hit Points. Take too much of it, and the person dies.

Yeah, it's a EShemarrian/Key the Metal Idol xover. Why? Because the Golden Serpent Society was SUCH a good opening...And, ectoplasmic lifeforce being harvested? Sentient robots? Again, too good to pass up while I was working on more serious stuff.

[taalismn]

EcoS-K-16 Gorgon War Steed

“Let us go , you crazy alien bint!!!”
“Tch-tch! Not until you tell me what you were doing sneaking around our Tribal lands, armed like you were! Now, I can haul you back to camp and let the Priestess interrogate you...but she tends to get INTENSE when her evening meditations are interrupted, or I can get the truth out of you right now and spare everybody a lot of trouble. Of course, I don’t expect you to give without incentive, so here’s the deal; tell me the truth, or Scylla here, whose coils you’re currently trapped in, gets to chew on one of you. Her choice of who she starts nibbling.”
“...told you the snake-bints weren’t worth trying to knock over, but did anybody listen to me? Noooooo....damn snake-bints and their snake pets and their snake horses...”

The ‘Gorgon’ is a Monstrex variant that has been encountered in the forces of the Sapphire Cobras. It is believed that work started on this variant soon after the Sapphire Cobras made contact with the Hawkmoons on Rifts Earth, and became privvy to the Hawkmoons’ work on diversifying their War Steed stable. Taking a page from the Hawkmoons’ development journals for the Axyridis(aka ‘Shemarrian Griffin’, itself a heavily modified Monstrex), as soon as they acquired Assembler Forges of their own, the Sapphire Cobras began looking to customize their own Monstrexes to something more appropriate to their peculiar Tribal aesthetic.
The Gorgon resembles a somewhat slighter, more slender version of the Monstrex, with a more horse-like form. The head and neck are more slender, the legs longer and lighter. In place of the articulated climbing spikes on the back, however, the Gorgon mounts giant tentacles, resembling giant snakes, and heading in rattlesnake-like robotic heads. The tail is also much longer and prehensile, ending in another stylized snake head.
Though more lightly armored than the standard Monstrex, the Gorgon is faster, more limber, and more agile, especially when negotiating close surroundings, such as jungle and dense forest. Basic sensors on the ‘arm’ and tail heads means that it is nearly impossible to sneak up on the Gorgon; a head is almost always facing in a would-be ambusher’s direction. This makes the Gorgon particularly popular with patrols and scouting parties.
The Gorgon remains exclusive to the Sapphire Cobra Tribe and is replacing many of the Tribe’s Monst-Cranes as the ‘fast mover’ of choice among Tribeswomen, especially senior warriors(the now-surplus Monst-Cranes typically going to lower-ranking warriors and senior Males).

Type: EcoS-K-16 Gorgon
Class: Robotic Warmount
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot, and room for 1 passenger
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 280
Head 120
*Armored Saddle 60
Snake Arms(4) 95 each
Tail 120
ForeLegs(2) 100 each
Rea Legs(2) 120 each

*The armored saddle is partially protected by expanding cobra-like hood-plates along the Gorgon’s neck, providing an extra measure of protection to the rider; the mounted Shemarrian is -3 to strike directly in the legs and main body due to the plating around her. The head and arms are still exposed, however.

Height: 10 ft (Snake tendrils can reach up as far as an additional 18 ft)
Width: 7 ft
Length: 15 ft(tail adds an additional 20 ft)
Weight: 2,500 lbs
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 35
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 200 MPH
(Leaping) 30 ft up/across from a standing position. A running leap in excess of 60 MPH will add 1d6x10 yards/meters, and 20 ft to height.
(Climbing) Though the snake armatures cannot drive as sharply or deeply as the original Monstrex spikes, the snake appendages are still able to bit in, and twine around holds, allowing the War Steed to climb at a respectable skill level of 90%(still cannot repel, however).
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible to fly, though it functions perfectly fine in conditions of vacuum/weightlessness
(Underwater) 20 MPH swimming or 6 MPH running on bottom. Maximum depth is 1,200 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Extra Sensors---The extra snake heads in the tentacles and tail sport basic robot optics, heat sensors, and audio sensors, allowing for a full 360 degrees of visual observation and accoustic reception.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Gorgons have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 40 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.


Weapons Systems:
1)Weapons Mounts(2)----The Gorgon carries two weapons mounts identical to those standard on the baseline Monstrex.

2) Prehensile Tail---The Gorgon’s tail is much longer than the Montrex’s, and more powerful. It also ends in a set of biting jaws that can deliver a vicious bite or an envenomed one, doing additional damage.
Range: Melee, 20 ft reach
Damage: Tail Bite 1d4 MD
Tail Slash 1d6+2 MD
Tail Stab 1d10 MD

3) Snake Arms(4)---These powerful tentacles each end in a fully functional snake head that can bite through armor and deliver a fang-dose of nanovenom. The tentacles are also long and flexible enough to wrap around branches and girders to help the Gorgon climb, and can entangle and constrict opponents in melee combat.
Range: Melee, 15 ft reach
Damage: Snake Arm Bite 1d4 MD
Snake Arm Punch 1d6 MD
Snake Arm Crush/Squeeze 2d6 MD per melee

4) ’Serpent’s Kiss’ Nanite Attack---All the Gorgon’s bites (Head, arms, tail) can deliver either an armor-piercing fang bite which injects material-destroying nanites, or it can spit a stream of nanomachines. These nanites can be set to devour only metal(or other specific materials) or can be pre-programmed to be more indiscriminant and destroy whatever they land on, depending on the situation.
Range: Melee or Spit 100 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD damage per melee, for 1d4 minutes.
If delivered in a ranged spitting attack, the nanites do slightly less damage, doing only 4d4 MD for 1d4 minutes
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 80 doses of nanites can be stored inside the Gorgon, before it needs recharging.

Of course, the rider can use any Shemarrian sidearm or long arm while mounted.


Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Typically has the same basic programming as for the Monstrex.
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Gorgon intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 6, +2 tail attacks, +2 Snake Arm attacks
Initiative +3 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +6, +8 to Dodge when running at speeds in excess of 75 MPH.
Parry+8
Strike +2 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry)
Pull +4
Roll +4
Entangle +4
Critical Strike on a Natural 19 or 20.
Restrained Bite/Nip 6d6 SDC
Bite 1d6 MD
Blunt Claw Strike 2d4 MD
Claw Strike 4d6+3 MD
Power Claw Strike(2 attacks) 8d6+3 MD
Snake Arm Bite 1d4 MD
Snake Arm Punch 1d6 MD
Snake Arm Crush/Squeeze 2d6 MD per melee
Tail Bite 1d4 MD
Tail Slash 1d6+2 MD
Tail Stab 1d10 MD
Tail Crush/Squeeze 3d6 MD per melee
Head Butt 1d4 MD
Pounce/Body Block 1d6 MD

Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Gorgon an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Gorgons have cunning, patient, personalities, content to watch and wait, contemplating everything happening around them, very much aware of their surroundings, until called to action, when they can readily spring to violent activity, combat-multi-tasking with ease.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience, and NEW BUILT EShemar constructs are immune to this)

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).



Variants:
*EcoS-K-16(SSN)-B 'Lightning Gorgon'---The Sapphire Cobras of the Shemarrian Star Nation have upgraded their Gorgons with variable mode ion blasters in the snake heads.
Range: 1,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot
1d4x10 MD per three-shot burst

(Ion Scatter-Shot Mode)---This mode turns the blaster into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 400 ft, but does 4d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area.

(Ion Step-Down Mode)---This mode rather than increase range or power, actually ‘steps down’ the power of ion bolts into the SDC range, and modulates their effect, making the weapon in effect a ‘super-taser’(albeit it with flash-burns). An added power regulation chip allows the weapon to use less power in SDC mode.
Range:(SDC shots) 600 ft
Damage: 1d6 SDC shock-burn. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees.
Payload: One MD shot equals 10 SDC shots

(Ion Focal Booster Mode)---Aka ‘Puncher’---This mode improves the focus of the ion pulse density, improving damage at the cost of range. Reduce range to 400 ft, but up damage to 5d6 MD per shot.

Note: It normally would take a regular person 2 melee actions to switch between modes on this weapon, but for the Ecotroz, with their Telemechanic psionics, it takes NO actions to actually change between modes. NeShemar cyborgs seem to have some sort of technomechanical linkage that allows them to switch modes as well without losing an APM.

Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

*EcoS-K-16(SSN)-C ’PyroGorgon’---Another Star Nation variant that mounts plasma blasters in the snake heads. Reportedly, after seeing this variant in action, the Shemarrian Star Nation branch of the Blood Riders have begged, pleaded, bribed and challenged to get the design specs from the Sapphire Cobras, to no avail(though the Cobras are having a fine time teasing and getting the Blood Riders to sometimes literally dance for them).
Range: 500 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Options:
*“Hot Shotting”---This system augments the normal air-draw plasma re-mass system with deuterium-gas injected into the plasma flow for a cleaner, hotter, more potent ‘burn’. The deuterium is stored in pressurized cylinders attached to the feeds of the gun, like a CO2 air rifle cartridge. This allows the plasma to do 50% more damage, but the weapon now has a bit of a recoil due to the more powerful plasma acting like a crude plasma drive(-1 to strike).

*Scatter-Fire---This modifies the muzzle plasma ejector mechanism to fire a dozen or so smaller plasma bolts at shorter range and with less individual damage, but with a scatter effect like a shotgun---ideal for clearing out rooms and compartments.
Reduce range by 1/3, and mini-plasma bolts do 2d4 MD each, but now covers a 30-degree arc(or rougly 15 ft wide area)

*Plasma Bolt-exploder----Rather than a single plasma bolt, this mod supercharges the outgoing shot into a sort of freeform plasma ‘grenade’ whose cohesion deteriorates faster, resulting in shorter range, but which explodes with greater area of effect and intensity.
Reduce range by HALF, but the bolt now does 1d6x10+4 MD and explodes in a 5 ft blast radius . A single plasma ‘grenade’ takes 2 APMs to charge up.

*Plasma Saber/Cutter Mode---This generates a continuous plasma stream similar to a plasma cutter:
Range:
(Plasma Saber) 3 ft
(Plasma Lance) 18 ft
Damage:
(Plasma Saber) 2d4 MD
(Plasma Lance) 6d6 MD
Payload: Can maintain Saber mode for 5 minutes of continual fire before needing 10 minutes to coll down(during which the weapon can still fire plasma bolts but only HALF as many as would be normally possible)
Can maintain Lance mode for 3 minutes of continual fire before needing 20 minutes to coll down(during which the weapon can still fire plasma bolts but only HALF as many as would be normally possible)

[DhAkael]

Fluff text amusing as always, and the Gorgon warsteed *giggle* always nice to see a Monst-Rex varient
Still kludging together concepts and numbers for the Celestials; mostly done, but need to refine the fluff-text prolouge.

Didn't help that my comp got crippled and had to be in the body & fender shop for nearly a full week (only charged 1 hour of labour time though so... silver linings and all).

[taalismn]

Fluff text amusing as always, and the Gorgon warsteed *giggle* always nice to see a Monst-Rex varient
Still kludging together concepts and numbers for the Celestials; mostly done, but need to refine the fluff-text prolouge.

Didn't help that my comp got crippled and had to be in the body & fender shop for nearly a full week (only charged 1 hour of labour time though so... silver linings and all).

I'm still hammering away on the Progen Random Traits Generator...It's proving to be HARD (especially when I'm checking against existing precedence so as not to trip myself up)to kludge up what amounts to a genetics system for beings who don't have DNA, and can now mate with organics and cyborgs....It's almost starting to look like Lysenkoism will actually have its Day...

But Mother of Chrome, if I can make it WORK, it might be the scariest thing yet I've done for this thread.

[taalismn]

Some Places Wayfinders Wish They Didn’t Find...

The Wolf’s Path patrol went into action with practiced ease when their senses had caught motion out in the wilderness. In moments their signature coordination had staggered their numbers, warriors and animals alike, in a ready formation, ready to cover each other and provide flanking fire on whatever possible threat emerged from the unknown. This planet was still very much an unknown, and little was known of what lurked out among the twisted silica-vines that covered much of it. None of the Wolf’s Path Tribe assigned to surveying the planet intended to have ‘dead by stupidity’ or ‘killed by unpreparedness’ as their epitaph, or worse yet, ‘killed others by their incompetence’ added to their record, with the discovery of some new threat.
But what DID ultimately come out of the light fog and psuedo-tree ramble was truly unexpected.
Perhaps two dozen humanoids came walking(or perhaps shambling would be a better term) out of the forest, two larger shapes coming up in the van. It took even the sharp-eyed Wolf’s Path hunters a moment to identify the shambling strangers as familiar; a group of fellow Shemarrians. Perhaps a dozen or so warriors, several males, two Acolites, two Tinkers, and a half-handful of other types, all looking ragged and battered, their armor blackened, bent, and melted, their robes and cloaks torn...but their adhoc collection of weapons held ready for use, their formation loose but clearly ready for defense.
The strangers stepped into the clearing and stopped, apparently aware of the several dozen weapons currently aimed at them from the bush.
The Wolf’s Path patrol Alpha stepped up, her rifle still leveled at the strangers, several of her warriors stepping out with her in shield formation.
“Identify yourselves!”
A warrior in much-patched armor stepped forward from the center of the loose formation, and turned to reply. The woman snapped off a slow hand-to-brow salute to the Field Alpha.
“Rachel Pasteur-Lyle, Second Solarii of the late SSNS River Po, Wayfinder Tribe. With me, surviving crew of same. Seeking contact with friendly civilization.“
There was a long moment.
“SSNS River Po, a converted freighter recon ship, complement of thirty-two. Disappeared three years ago mapping the Idala Nebula.” the patrol’s Beta helpfully supplied.
“That’s over thirty-two thousand parsecs away!” the Field Alpha turned to the newcomers. “You’re a long way from where you’re supposed to be, Second Solarii!”
The woman in question shrugged. “We walked.”
“Your commanding officer?”
“First Celest Norma Curie-RadianceWatcher. She’s ...no longer among us. I’m in command by default. Been a TOUGH three years.”
Indeed, now that the Wolves could get a closer look at the newcomers, under the grime and slag, the Wolves could make out the third eye of the Wayfinders, or crystalline arcanotech implants that glowed with wane mystic energy. They also made out the arcane weapons, still bearing the distinctive book-and-compass-rose signature of the Wayfinder Tribe, some of them carried, now lowered, but still readily at hand. But while most Wayfinders the Wolf party had encountered were generally cheerful, inquisitive, chatty types, these ones looked beat up and furtive, their eyes scanning their surroundings with barely concealed anxiety, their grim and weary demeanor more like that of a veteran Skullcrusher line team. Even their two War Steeds, a Gracille and a Cybear, looked the worse for wear, battered, bent, and abused, picking their way along slowly and carefully.
“Pardon me for saying, but you and your crew look like...”
“Like we’ve been through Hell? Close enough. Look, contact our people and slap a quarantine on us until they can send some deep-scanners and soul-readers to look us over. After where we’ve been, while I can vouch that none of my people have been compromised, I want to be ABSOLUTELY sure. I don’t want to known as the Solarii who unleashed a second Blacksteel incident on the EShemar.“
The mere mention of the Cursed Metal sent a collective flinch through all assembled, and the Wolf’s Pathers stepped back a pace, their weapons coming back up to on-guard.
Something in the Solarii’s tone advised that she be taken seriously, so while the patrol’s long-talker relayed their discovery to higher up, the rest of the patrol emerged from concealment and took up a respectful, but cautious, distance from the newfound Wayfinders, and escorted them back down the rough path the Wolves had blazed, back to a small bowl-depression the Pathers had chosen for a supply cache and possible staging area. It would do for temporary shelter and containment until heavier reinforcements and transport could arrive.
As the Wolves took up position around the bowl, the Wayfinders slumped to the ground and arranged themselves as comfortably as they could, some of them cracking open the supply boxes the Wolf Field Alpha had obligingly given them permission to have. The Wayfinders seemed to find a little more enthusiasm and energy as they helped themselves to mineral supplement bars, nanite boosters, and bottles of superconductivity solution, sharing out the refreshments with one another and even wearily cracking jokes amongst themselves.
The Wolf Field Alpha kept near the Wayfinder Solarii on the edge of the clearing, asking what questions she could think of. The Wayfinder answered as best she could, but was obviously awaiting a formal debriefing. Still, what little the Field Alpha could pry from the other had the makings of dark epic; an unexpected black hole, a crashlanding in another universe, a slog across what could only be described as an Infernal realm inhabited by demons and monsters, the crash survivors fighting for their lives, watching as their numbers inevitably lessened to attrition, before finally finding a dimensional escape hatch.
Rachel Pasteur-Lyle tiredly eased back against a backrest of rock, a canister of liquid nanoboost in her hand, from which she was swigging. The Field Alpha, positioned on a rock outcropping above her, listened respectfully in case the Wayfinder wished to volunteer any more information.
“As soon as we’re cleared, I’m going to want to talk to somebody with access to the Trinity Modules.”
“May I ask why?”
The Wayfinder reached into one of her carry-pockets, and withdrew a small handful of crystals.
“What are those?” The Wolf asked cautiously, remembering the remark earlier about the Metal of Corruption.
“The only way we could bring them out of the place we found them.” the Wayfinder muttered, as she held one up between her fingers to the wane sunlight. The crystal seemed to glow, a flickering inside that guttered in darkness, but seemed a bit stronger when sunlight struck it. “Innocent souls, wrongly condemned to eternal torment, amidst a sea of the truly evil and damned. I don’t know what universes they came from, but if there’s a chance of giving them a new life away from that hell, I mean to do it. That might be the only good thing that comes of this whole ordeal.”