Paladin Steel Storefront

[taalismn]

Excellent new material. The Federated States would like to increase our order with PS. Especially with the latest additions. I'm sure your people will be happy to hear this.

The beings in Shipping and Recieving are all too happy to oblige(snaps up their plastic wrapping dispenser guns and barcode scanners)

[taalismn]

Looking at Ontos sites and my Ontos II, I'm beginning to acquire a greater affection for teh little things...(I was already fond of the six mini-missile launcehr concept with light lasers as extra icing), but I'm beginning to see a family of light vehicles descended from the first PS 'Jeb Stuart' light tank, running through the Ontos II and Skorpion III...

[abtex]

Ontos kind of grows on you. One of the phases that stuck with me, is highlighted below.

Rejected in the beginning by the Army as a reconnaissance vehicle, it was used in this role by the Marines in Vietnam. The M50 could go places no other Marine armored vehicle could go. It had limitations. In addition to the problems previously noted (premature firing and vulnerability to mining), the recoilless rifles had to be loaded externally which meant the crew had to leave the protection of the armored hull in order to reload. The 106mm recoilless rifle is no stealth weapon: when fired, the tremendous backblast makes the Ontos' location visible to the enemy. Ontos crew had to ensure no friendly troops were in the large blackblast area when operating in confined areas.

When I show the picture of the M56 Scorpion Airborne Self-Propelled Anti-Tank Gun's oversize road wheels the first thought I had with Wheels/Hoverjets. I like the name BiPhibi Hover Wheels. Maybe not for true flight, but jumping rivers, going down or up hill sides, being dropped from aircraft, short range maybe a max of 50 to 80 miles on charge/JATO tank or it like. True hover is OK, but you do not need it all the time and I am cheap. When the weapons cost more that the chassic.

"But I already have the weapons from the last two, No three vehicles. I just need another chassic to use them on. How much to put them together, this time?"

The DH Caribou II turned into a Skycrane type body would make a nice transport for small armored vehicles. The armored vehicles weight is just about right for the Caribou.

Most are not missiles, but had thoughts of fitting the Jackalope's weapons and missile packs on the Ontos and Skorpion III in place of stock weapons. Being able to build the vehicles in just about any farm equipment factory and repair them in an auto garage sounds nice to me.

If the ONTOS was the most deadly shotgun. Mounting 4 80mm ‘Pulverizer’ Super-Heavy Shotguns to the fixed hardpoints and clip feeding them. Would be what?

Now we just need the PS 'Jeb Stuart' light tank. Then the family tree.

[taalismn]

When I show the picture of the M56 Scorpion Airborne Self-Propelled Anti-Tank Gun's oversize road wheels the first thought I had with Wheels/Hoverjets. I like the name BiPhibi Hover Wheels. Maybe not for true flight, but jumping rivers, going down or up hill sides, being dropped from aircraft, short range maybe a max of 50 to 80 miles on charge/JATO tank or it like. True hover is OK, but you do not need it all the time and I am cheap. When the weapons cost more that the chassic.

"But I already have the weapons from the last two, No three vehicles. I just need another chassic to use them on. How much to put them together, this time?"

The DH Caribou II turned into a Skycrane type body would make a nice transport for small armored vehicles. The armored vehicles weight is just about right for the Caribou.

Most are not missiles, but had thoughts of fitting the Jackalope's weapons and missile packs on the Ontos and Skorpion III in place of stock weapons. Being able to build the vehicles in just about any farm equipment factory and repair them in an auto garage sounds nice to me.

If the ONTOS was the most deadly shotgun. Mounting 4 80mm ‘Pulverizer’ Super-Heavy Shotguns to the fixed hardpoints and clip feeding them. Would be what?

Now we just need the PS 'Jeb Stuart' light tank. Then the family tree.

I'm really liking the way you're thinking here...
I already have a 'Skycrane'-type vehicle lined up, but it will of the more sophisticated GMR(graviMagnetic Resist) type propulsion type...PS's low-powered anti-grav technology...similar to what Triax is workingon/already has...we're just more open about it...but a Caribou II derivate is in keeping with PS's 'think sideways, branch off, cross-pollinate' philosopy...Bless yah...and yeah, the idea of an Ontos sliding out of the back of a Caribou II or C-130/2 is an appealing one...

Looking at the development history of the Ontos, the original plan was for a family of related and deivative vwhicles using the same chassis, so I can work with that idea already...

4xPulverizers? Jesus Christ! Yeah, add some extra heavy shock absorbers for the kickback..., unless you're doing a skidding backwards shooting retreat out of an urban area!
Most of the weight and extras on Jackalope weaponry is armor, since robots traditionally take more of a mauling than vehicles(from just falling down, for instance) so they may be a little bulky for light vehicles...still...cross-vehicle/robot compatibility is a thought...

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Jeb Stuart Light Tank

“Ol’ ‘Thrasher’....she was one of the first vehicles ever turned out by PS...back when the company was a machine shop working for the Great Lakes companies....I drove her back then, and we went through some hard times together...Had to rebuild the clunker five or six times....That Mechanoid robot almost finished her off for good...But Thrasher kept coming back...Like me, she’s retired, though I’m glad they painted her up nice and in proper regimental colors....Now she leads off the annual Burlington Harvest Festival as the float-tractor....Heartens me to see, even watching from the sidelines, that some things can keep going in these fast-paced times.”
----Roscoe Lamartine, Sergeant(Retired), Burlington Militia

The Jeb is a light infantry-support tank design that was intended to fill the demand for a “wilderness” LBT, able to perform in varied terrain for long periods of time, without intensive logistical support. Originally little more than a treaded Big Boss ATV, the Jeb was designed as a “wilderness tank” , operating far from its logistical base or more advanced technological enclaves, where repairs and expert maintenance would be hard to come by. The Jeb is straightforward, with a simple, modular design that allows for fast and dirty repairs and modifications with whatever materials/equipment are available. A simple, basic, tread-borne chassis with a reinforced hull and provision for a light turret, the Jeb could be powered by a variety of low-cost powerplants, including flex-fuel internal combustion and electric power cells, Large battery bays hold rechargeable batteries for the electrical systems and energy weapons. Seating is tight, but not uncomfortable, and the tank features a basic environmental system for protection in contaminated environs. Paladin Steel has sold hundreds of these vehicles to small communities and kingdoms at dirt-cheap prices.
The Jeb was one of PS’s earlier/earliest designs, pre-dating Paladin Steel’s association with Iron Heart Armaments, and it’s beginning to show its age. The Jeb is now seriously outgunned by other designs, and even newer infantry weapons. PS is seriously contemplating shutting the line down, seeing the Jeb’s intended role as being better filled by light vehicles like the Greyhound and Super Bug. Other factors in the decision to discontinue the line include the development of PS’s inexpensive power armors which more effectively fill the recon-strike role, and by PS’s development of heavy MBTs like the Genghis and the Bandersnatch. Still, PS continues to turn out Jebs(or at least spare parts and upgrade kits).
The Jeb is still regarded as an important vehicle for Paladin Steel, as it gave the company invaluable design experience and helped shape many of the company’s current design philosophies.
(Post-110 PA Update: The Jeb has passed from official PS and GNE use, and Paladin Steel has indeed ceased production, but several hundred still remain in service with town militias and smaller communities. A number of upgrade kits have been turned out to keep these vehicles running and still effective, but most adventurers and men-of-arms consider the design to be obsolete and well past its heyday. The design, however, gave PS invaluable experience in vehicle design/production, and its chassis, refined and improved, has gone on to become the basis of an entire family of light utility and combat vehicles, including the Ontos II and Skorpion III light tanks/weapons carriers. )
Type: PS-LBT-01
Class: Light Battle Tank
Crew: Three(driver, gunner, commander)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 200
Turret 100
Reinforced Crew Compartment 100
Treads(2) 50 each
Height: 8ft
Width: 7 ft
Length: 12 ft
Weight: 6.5 tons
Cargo: Enough space in the crew compartment for a few small personal possessions, survival packs, and sidearms.
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(150 mile range), Electric(200 mile range), or nuclear(10 year energy life)
Speed: 55 MPH; could cross trenches as wide as 8 ft, and climb grades of 35 degrees.
If the treads are destroyed, the tank can move, albeit slowly, on its road wheels at 20 MPH.
Market Cost: The basic Jeb costs about 300,000 credits, 400,000 credits for the electric, and 1 million credits for the nuclear. (Note: At the end of its production run, with sales to the market, the price had dropped to 100,000 credits. In some areas, old Jebs can be found on the market for 80,000 credits or less.)
Systems/Features:
Radio: 50 mile range
IR/Visible Light Headlights
Movable Spotlight
Air Filtration System; Rather than a self-contained NBC-proofed closed environment cabin, the Stuart has a cheaper air filtering system that draws outside air in thru bionic lung-style filtration elements.
Trailer-Hitch

Weapons Systems:
1)Light Laser Cannon(1, turret-mounted)---A rather simple, unsophisticated weapon, the original light laser cannon was a copy of common weapon systems then floating around, and constituted one of PS’s first attempts to create its own weapons.
Many Jeb-buyers found it a fairly simple matter to replace defective/damaged laser cannons with their own cannons or rail guns.
Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 200 shot battery. Unlimited with a nuclear power plant

2)Co-Axial Rail Gun---The original design for the PS Stuart incorporated a readily available NG-101 rail gun into the main turret, though many buyers have subsequently substituted other weapons in its place.
Range:4000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd. 6d6 MD per 30 rd burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 600 rd magazine

3) Hull-mounted Laser---Mounted in the front of the hull, with a 45-degree arc of fire, is a light laser weapon, operated by the driver. Many buyers replaced the factory-issue laser with regular laser rifles and light railguns....
Range: 1500 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 300 shot battery

4)Mini-Missiles---A box-style launcher on the side of the turret; fairly straightforward engineering.
Range: Varies
Damage: Varies
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, or 8(all)
Payload: 8

Options:
a)Mini-missile ‘Calliope’ Launcher---This turret-mounted multi-tube “pipe organ” missile launcher turns the light tank into a light bombard platform.
Range: Varies
Damage: Varies
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6,
Payload: 20
Cost: 15,000 credits

b) Short Range Missile Launcher---A heavier box-launcher, providing heavier firepower.
Range: Varies
Damage: Varies
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, (all)
Payload: 6
Cost: 20,000 credits

c) Amphibious--The Stuart can be watersealed and equiped with flotation units and a propeller drive, allowing it to cross relatively calm/still bodies of water at a leisurely 20 MPH.
Cost: 7,000 credits

d) Additional Armor. Applique MDC armor can be added at 35,000 credits per 10 MDC, max of 100 MDC can be added.

e) Flail Mounting---Inspired by the old WWII Scorpion “Flail Tanks”, this option mounts a long roller-supported assembly on the front of the tank, with a rapidly rotating drum on the end, to which are attached dozens of lengths of high-strength chain. The theory goes that by advancing behind the flailing chains, the tank can safely detonate mines at a standoff distance, triggering them prematurely with the ground-hammering chains. In practice, though, this worked only against the simplest of mines, and the device was easily defeated by time delay fuzes, greater blast radius explosives, and ‘smart’ mines like the Wellington SAW, which could attack targets from the side and from a distance. Most of the flail packages sold by PS ended up being used to clear brush or in riot control. It had some some success against infantry, but as the tank is made rather slow and cumbersome by pushing the flail assembly, its easily avoided.
Still, the flail-tank asembly did enjoy some rather spectacular successes early on; as early on in PS’s history, when the Shelburne Power Station tunnel-system was invaded by a marauding mercenary army, intent on plundering the facility and slaughtering those who had taken refuge there. Several flail-equipped Jebs were stationed in the tunnels and managed to repel the invaders, annihilating entire platoons that couldn’t escape the deadly chains in the narrow confines of the tunnels.
MDC of Assembly:80
Size: The flail assemby adds ten feet to the length of the tank
Range: 8 ft range
Damage: 1d6 MD per chain strike(Roll 1d6 to dtermine number of chains hitting)
Penalties: Reduce speed of tank by 20%, and -10% to Pilot Tank skill
Cost: 20,000 credits

f) Turret Flame Thrower---This replaces the main cannon with a flame projector and armored fuel tanks(100 MDC for the tanks). The fuel tanks have an ejection features that catapults the tanks up to 25 ft away from the AFV in the event of a leak or fire(this doiesn’t exactly endear the tank to accompanying infantry and many garages and motorpools insist on having a fully fueled-up fire-tank parked in its own revetment or away from other vehicles).
Range:(Direct-Stream Mode) 230 ft
Damage:(Direct-Stream Mode)
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
Note: The flamethrower can also be used to cover an area with fluid: up to 10 ft per attack used. Used with Super-Napalm, this does 1d4 MD, Incendi-Gel does 1d6 MD, and with Napalm-P, this does 2d6 MD.
Rate of Fire:(Direct-Stream Mode) Standard
Payload:(Direct-Stream Mode
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 20 blasts
(Napalm) 60 blasts
(MD Fluid) 100 blasts
(Incendi-Gel) 120 blasts
(WI Napalm-P) 200 blasts per tank(much more concentrated than the regular gasoline/alcohol).
Cost: 30,000 credits


Variants----Even as the Jeb Stuart is phased out of service, PS has already found ways to use the stockpiles of spare parts and older, defunct vehicles. The basic Stuart tread-chassis has already found use in a number of industrial applications, as a “prime mover” tractor-hauler and utility vehicle. These vehicles are typically unarmed, have 20-50% less MDC, and cost in the area of 20%-50% less.
The most common “civilian” variant is the DUKW “Otter”, an amphibious chassis with seating for up to six people, and sold as a utility vehicle. The Otter can be outfitted with an armored canopy(60 MDC) that affords some protection to passengers. Cost: 80,000 credits. PS has contemplated licensing production of this model to smaller companies and communities in the VFS

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Mage Pod---
The Mage Pod is probably the most significant technology and option to come out of PS’s earlyy robotics programs. The Mage Pod also represents a crowning achievement for Paladin Steel’s industrial-magery division, and helped establish it as a power to be reckoned with in the PS organization(it had previously been regarded as a ‘cottage industry’ department compared to the large-scale assembly-line centered Heavy Machinery, Aviation, and Naval Engineering sections). The Mage Pod is an effort to develop a modular TechnoWizardry weapon, applicable to vehicles and robots, and is a TW weapons module that incorporates a PPE Battery(Maximum Strength: 500 PPE!) and a pre-programmed crystal spell projector, with hardwired activator spells(Energy Bolt, Energy Field, Domination[for mental spells], and Wind Rush).
The heart of the system, though, lies between the crystal lenses and the PPE Battery. There are three option spaces for Spell Cards. What’s a Spell Card? A Spell Card is a brick-sized wafer of pure iron, crystals, and wiring(typically a large percentage of the wiring consists of gold or silver), woven in mystic configurations, typically around a central gemstone or crystal lense/’lasing’ element, and incorporating a ‘hardwired’ spell. The Spell Card can be simply installed in the Mage Pod’s option slot( a matter of 10-15 minutes to check for correct lense alignment), fed PPE from the Battery via the activator spell, and projected via the crystal ‘shooter’. Instant spell magic! This system also allows the weapons system to be specifically configured to a particular mission needs(i.e. , a Minotaur wheeled tank expected to act as an ECM/ECCM vehicle might carry Frequency Jamming, Illusion, and Illusion Booster, while a vampire hunter might carry Globe of Daylight, Circle of Rain, and Water Wisp).
The Mage Pod has a few drawbacks; one is the fact that the mys-technology is still new and fairly expensive. Spell Cards are rather rare and hard to come by on the market(currently available direct from PS only). The other is that currently only simple single spells can be incorporated into the Spell Card module. Combined effect spells cannot currently be incorporated, though PS is working feverishly on the means to do so.
Weight: 1,000 lbs
Range: Varies by spell
Damage/Duration: Varies by spell
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
PPE Cost per Use: Varies by spell. However, the use of focusing elements and activator spells effectively reduces spell PPE cost by HALF.
(So you Technowizards aren’t flummoxed by PPE costs in a long-running battle, while the still relatively high PPE costs for the high-end spells keeps someone from using Sphere of Annihilation in every battle).
Payload: Draws from the main PPE Battery, but can also draw upon the robot’s/vehicle’s other PPE reserves/batteries(if any have been fitted). In an emergency, the pilot, if they are a mage or psychic, can kick in their own PPE.
Bonuses: As per spell(if any)
Cost: The basic mage Pod system costs about 1.2 million credits
Spell Cards cost (as per Jason Richards’ guidelines in Rifter #2) 5,000 credits per PPE cost of main spell plus an additional cost (as per following modifiers)
*500 credits per level of the creating caster(Mages’ time and PPE are money, so expect to pay more for the longer duration/higher power spells)
*Warlock spells cost 20% more, in addition to above modifiers, owing to the difficulties of adapting Elemental Magic to ‘conventional” magic systems.

Note: As a breakthrough weapon, the Mage Pod is rather large and clumsy, representing a first generation production model. As Paladin Steel grew more experienced with the mystechnology, and new technologies(such as Ectofiber wiring) became available, later models would become smaller, lighter(by as much as 50%), and more efficient, with a proportional drop in the cost of Spell Cards....though the more advanced models would remain the exclusive property of PS’s own forces, and its approved affiliates.


Paladin Steel Mini-Mage Multiplexor Weapon

“I love my Multiplexor---it’s tough, solid, reliable, and always at hand...true, the ammo’s expensive, and you gotta watch power drainage, but often the magic this thing packs is the difference between victory and defeat. My team, we consult with our magic-users, find out what spells they prefer to use and how much power they got left, and load our Multiplexors to compliment what they got. Works just fine, and keeps the screaming at the mages for such and such to a minimum.”
-Major Roberto Javez, Professional Vampire Hunter

“Mass-market magic weapons systems....only an ignorant, ill-disciplined, and unscrupulous black marketeer would concieve of this thing. The ‘Multiplexor’ represents a dangerous trend in the peoples’ perception of magic. It promulgates the dangerous illusion that the Art can used like a common lighter or electric switch. It trivializes the power and responsibilities of the Art, and demotes the True Practitioner to being an assembly line worker. What horrid and irresponsible miscreation will come next? A cellular telephone with a Summon Demon auto-dialler? I shudder at the thought. Therefore I and my brethren must ban this device from our town...and denounce those responsible for its creations as misguided traitors to our Art.”
-Master Orley, Guild of the Sh’ydan Art, Dwoemer City

The Multiplexor was the first major collaboration between Paladin Steel and the New Barre and FreeWah(Dwarven enclaves of the West Coast’s Washington/Oregon region) mage-communities to produce a joint Techno-Wizardry weapons system and though hardly impressive compared to the massive heavy-armor vehicles normally associated with the company’s efforts, the Mini-Mage Multiplexor represents a major step in new developments.
The Multiplexor is an attempt to scale the power and versatility of the Mage Pod TW weapons system down to the infantry level. The result; a modular magic weapon available to the regular Joe. The Multiplexor resembles a heavy broadsword that has been crossed with a light machine gun; the hilt has a shoulder butt-stock, trigger(w/ guard) and two insertable clips. Built into the hilt and protected by its armored housing is a minuature Mage-Lense assembly that sights along the blade of the sword. To use, the Multiplexor must have both a TW PPE clip(the bottom, larger, magazine), and a minuature spell-card cartridge(feeding into the top of the ‘firing mechanism’). A PPE Clip is a highly compact cartridge of semi-precious crystals in a wire(often silver or cold iron) frame, while a Spell Card is a discette-sized matrix of rune-like micro-circuitry woven around a small gemstone ‘imprinted’ with a magic spell. Because of the size of the system, the Multiplexor is limited in its PPE capacity to 100 PPE maximum, but PPE clips can be changed as easily as an E-clip, with the release of a catch and a quick switch. Another limitation is that only one Spell Card can be used at a time; and only simple spells, so simultaneous castings for combined effect are impossible. Furthermore, due to the available power, some spells may not be available due to their PPE requirements.
Of course, in lieu of a PPE Clip, if the user has the mana, the Multiplexor can used, powered, and recharged like any other TW weapon. The use of PPE clips, however, allows non-magic users or psychics to use it, and a variety of magic spells, simply by clicking a spell card and a PPE clip.
The Multiplexor can be used like a conventional bladed weapon with magical effects, or it can be used as a spell ‘rifle’. Point the Multiplexor and pull the trigger.
To give the Multiplexor a conventional ‘edge’ technology-wise, the blade is a vibro-blade of conventional design. Though rather heavy for a melee weapon, the vibroblade still does good damage without being overly encumbering. Some buyers have dispensed with this feature, ordering the Multiplexor with a Cold Iron blade or silver-plated vampire sword.
The real advantage of the system is, of course, the ability to quickly ‘customize’ the weapon to meet a particular need, by simply changing clips and Spell Cards, rather than fish around for a particular magic weapon or fumble for a spell book. Load, lock, and shoot. Easy.....
The Multiplexor has only recently been released to the market, but already its aroused howls of controversy. Many ‘true’ mages deride this product as an ‘abomination’ and a ‘slap in the face to true masters of the art’ by attempting to produce a mass-market, modular magic weapon intended for the hands of the ‘unknowing’ who have no feel for magic. Even some Techno-Wizards are contemptuous of the Multiplexor because it lacks the handcrafted devotion that many T-Wizards feel truly empowers their creations. The insult, in the eyes of many practictioners of the Arts, is that a vagabond with a Multiplexor and a belt of Spell Cards and PPE Clips, might consider themselves a true Mage, a dangerous and reckless supposition. As a result, the Multiplexor has already been banned in a number of magic communities. Ironically, this same censure has promoted sales among men-at-arms and adventurers.
The Multiplexor is one of the few TW weapons manufactured in the VFS/GNE region, though the primary source continues to be Paladin Steel West and the West Coast enclaves .
Weight: 8 lbs
Range: Varies by spell
Damage/Duration: Varies by spell
The vibro-blade does 2d6 MD
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
PPE Cost per Use: Varies by spell. Spells cost as normal
Vibroblade does not draw PPE power; its conventionally powered.

Payload: Draws from the main PPE Battery, . In an emergency, the user, if they are a mage or psychic, can kick in their own PPE.
Bonuses: As per spell(if any)
Cost: The basic Multiplexor system costs about 35,000 credits
PPE clips cost 6,000 creditsfor 50 PPE
12,000 Credits for 100 PPE
(PPE Clips cost more than PS’s regular line of car-battery-sized PPE Batteries because of their more compact size and configuration.

Spell Cards cost (as per Jason Richards’ guidelines in Rifter #2) 5,000 credits per PPE cost of main spell plus an additional cost (as per following modifiers)
*500 credits per level of the creating caster(Mages’ time and PPE are money, so expect to pay more for the longer duration/higher power spells)
*Warlock spells cost 20% more, in addition to above modifiers, owing to the difficulties of adapting Elemental Magic to ‘conventional” magic systems.

[csbioborg]

Yeah...it's a shovel...but people with little more than shovels have changed the course of rivers and the fortunes of entire nations...

Vibro-Spade Entrenching Tool
“Not everyone has the gumption to be a knife fighter, but when the artillery missiles start flying overhead, EVERYONE becomes an expert with a foxhole digger.”
---”UndertakerMan”, Headhunter

“Damn....with those new vibro-spades, those greenies can dig holes faster than we can find grenades to drop down ‘em!”
----Anonymous Coalition soldier, KIngsdale front

“No more worrying about permafrost, rocks, concrete, or hardpack...Just watch where your feet are...”
----Paladin Steel Ad-Spot for the ‘Vib-Dig’.

The Vibro-Spade is a low-powered vibroblade mated to a folding field shovel. The inclusion of the megadamage cutting edge allows the shovel to slice through the toughest, rockiest soils and hard-frozen permafrost with ease. The Vibro-Spade has a broad, pointed cutting blade, lock-hinge for easy folding and stowage, a short one- or two-handed handle with a ruggerized covering for better grip, and a flashlight-style screw-end battery/e-pack compartment inside the handle. Though not really effective as a weapon, as any grunt can tell you, entrenching tools have been a favorite improvized melee weapon for centuries...the addition of the vibro-blade is just icing on the cake.
The price has been kept deliberately low so as to facilitate sales. Furthermore, the Vibro-Spade is standard issue to GNE infantry.
Weight: 2.5 lbs
Size: 2 ft folded, 3 ft unfolded
M.D.C.: 15
Range: Melee(entire tool is 3 ft long; 2 ft with blade folded)
Damage: (Unpowered)2d4 SDC club or slice +P.S. damage bonus(if any)
(w/ Vibroblade active) 1d4 MD
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Special Features:
*Folding spade head
*Non-conductive ruggerized handle
*Replaceable/Rechargeable Battery: 1 hour charge
Cost: 2,200 credits

this one I like

[taalismn]

Yeah...it's a shovel...but people with little more than shovels have changed the course of rivers and the fortunes of entire nations...

Vibro-Spade Entrenching Tools

this one I like

What can I say? I'm kinda surprised it hadn't come up before..>I mean, with a vibroblade, no more worrying about permafrost or rocks in the ground...

[csbioborg]

having used a e tool in real life in the military I whole heatedily agree with that. Even in dirt making a foxhole takes ages

[taalismn]

having used a e tool in real life in the military I whole heatedily agree with that. Even in dirt making a foxhole takes ages

Of course, post-Rifts militaries will either issue normal shovels to troops on punishment detail, or expect them to build mile-long canals or subway tunnels now that breaking sod is now 'easier'...

[abtex]

4xPulverizers? Jesus Christ! Yeah, add some extra heavy shock absorbers for the kickback..., unless you're doing a skidding backwards shooting retreat out of an urban area!

6 to 8 tons mass of vehicle. Mirco pulse fire the 4 Pulverizers so they use their recoil counteract the skid factor. 1 or 2 guns firing while the others are recoiling. Rebuild the weapons so the barrel is moving with the recoil not the firing chamber. Read about a weapon system that uses this system but cannot remember what. Combat rifle based on a design use for a machine gun, maybe. Add a couple hovercycle thursters to the chassic to counteract and aid in water travel.

and yeah, the idea of an Ontos sliding out of the back of a Caribou II or C-130/2 is an appealing one...

Have a very bad habit taking an idea or something I find..like or not and just see how many different uses I can think up for it. Low to high tech, what it might have been in the Golden Age and recycled into Rift age. One of the first for Wheels/Hoverjets on your ‘Daniel Boone’ Light Scout Vehicle.. BiPhibi Hover Wheels was a ParaDrop system and missed use by their vehicles' crews as a cheap hoversystem. In areas of poor or no roads, can see it being re-Invented. Rechargable JATO/hoverjet type system.

Three different ways of using BiPhibi Hover Wheels is
1) ground to air
2) Air to ground
3) Wet to ground
Do a little rethinking on how Hover jets would effect amphi speeds or travel on water. Find this after brain fart Partial Air Cushion Supported CATamaran landing craft and has link to other article that is now gone, but uses the same tech on freight vessel. Sounds like to can be used on coastal and brown water vehicles, lower cost water vehicles that hovercraft, faster that boats.

One sick thought was ‘Daniel Boone’ crews driving a high speed off cliffs or tall parking garages to maximize ground to air

Most of the weight and extras on Jackalope weaponry is armor, since robots traditionally take more of a mauling than vehicles (from just falling down, for instance) so they may be a little bulky for light vehicles...still...cross-vehicle/robot compatibility is a thought...

Have been trying to re-work Jackalope weapons, for different purposes, range, fire rate, tech s and such. Not getting very far.

But I have too many dumb ideas.

Off topic but a fun read Humorous Comparison of an AK47, an AR15 and a Mosin but only if you read the whole thing.

[abtex]

Is it true that a Jeb Stuart Light Tank was used as the test bed at PS for Hanger 18B's Earth Elemental based track system? The new tracks and it's brother the Earth Rollers, (that is the right name?) can really climb up the side of cliffs and normally enpassable earthen obstacles. The only power you need is for onboard systems and weapons? How soon will they be available?

Air Elemental powered BiPhibi Hover Wheels a new meaning to stealth.

[abtex]

Yeah...it's a shovel...but people with little more than shovels have changed the course of rivers and the fortunes of entire nations...

Vibro-Spade Entrenching Tools

this one I like

What can I say? I'm kinda surprised it hadn't come up before..>I mean, with a vibroblade, no more worrying about permafrost or rocks in the ground...

Still no Tap Zap picks - plant the spike into the ground, release it, step back 10-15 feet trailing wire, set charge level, hit remote control yell 'fire in the hole'. Hit 2nd control tab retract spike and wire into handle. start over. Comes in single and multi spike designs. Reusable explosives. Quick dig Bayonet - fire into ground or door, hit remote, repeat as needed.

Tap zap power saw - Strap flex strip to object to be cut, turn on powers, series of repeated small 'charges' in strip cuts object in half. Also works nicely in questioning an individuals.

On a side note, does PS offer a Hiking Stick, that combines the Multiplexor Weapon and features of the ‘Pummeler’ Urban Melee Weapon together so people can safety hike the trails. In no way would this be a Mage's staff with custom designs being available with optional Scrambler Shelter.

[taalismn]

[
One sick thought was ‘Daniel Boone’ crews driving a high speed off cliffs or tall parking garages to maximize ground to air

.

1: "We're well above any ground fir--*BLAM*
"It's that hundred feet of altitude that will kill'ya."

2. (Cockpit of Ground Attack Aircraft)"Something's paralleling us..OH SHI--*BLAM*

[taalismn]

Still no Tap Zap picks - plant the spike into the ground, release it, step back 10-15 feet trailing wire, set charge level, hit remote control yell 'fire in the hole'. Hit 2nd control tab retract spike and wire into handle. start over. Comes in single and multi spike designs. Reusable explosives. Quick dig Bayonet - fire into ground or door, hit remote, repeat as needed.

Tap zap power saw - Strap flex strip to object to be cut, turn on powers, series of repeated small 'charges' in strip cuts object in half. Also works nicely in questioning an individuals.

On a side note, does PS offer a Hiking Stick, that combines the Multiplexor Weapon and features of the ‘Pummeler’ Urban Melee Weapon together so people can safety hike the trails. In no way would this be a Mage's staff with custom designs being available with optional Scrambler Shelter.

You're evil, you know that?
Putting it all in my 'To Do' folder...

[taalismn]

Is it true that a Jeb Stuart Light Tank was used as the test bed at PS for Hanger 18B's Earth Elemental based track system? The new tracks and it's brother the Earth Rollers, (that is the right name?) can really climb up the side of cliffs and normally enpassable earthen obstacles. The only power you need is for onboard systems and weapons? How soon will they be available?

Air Elemental powered BiPhibi Hover Wheels a new meaning to stealth.

If I can figure out what spells to use for the track system...

[taalismn]

The following was originally created by me for Rodney Stott's "Hadrian's" webpage on the New Roman Republic, but wound up as one of my "lost files". But as there's a real need for air-defense vehicles in Rifts North America, particularly with all those new Coalition jets flying around, and as I'd made some mention of the Paladin Steel trade missions to Europe in the past, I thought I'd repost this(slightly modified).

(insert appropriate copyrights and special thanks to Rodney for inspiring the design)

Meles (“Badger”) Air Defense Vehicle
(Also; Paladin Steel "SkyWatcher" Light Air Defense Vehicle)

“The gargoyles have enjoyed the skies entirely too much...I say we show them these are ROMAN skies!”

The Meles is the result of transAtlantic cooperation in the development of a weapons system, between the New Roman Republic and Paladin Steel/Vermont Free State. One of PS’s earlier efforts, it saw the incorporation of advanced fire control systems and weapons acquired from overseas sources, especially the Triax TX-862FC 30mm cannon.
The Meles ADV is essentially a heavy 4-wheel drive vehicle with an air defense weapons package/turret mounted in its cargo bed. Cheap, relaible, simple to manufacture, maintain, and operate, the Meles ADV provides ready Cohort-level air defense. Its fire-control system and search radars are adaptations of pre-Rifts designs(mostly Selenia electronics) that have been upgraded, and rigorously field-tested. Typically four Meles are attached to a Cohort as an air-defense unit(the Meles are, themselves, frequently grouped with escorting infantry/support troops equiped with shoulder-launched “Stinger”-style AA missiles as part of the air defense unit). The weapons turret can also be dismounted and used as a static defense mount(for point defense), running off its own electrical system.

In North America, Paladin Steel manufactures their own licensed copy of the Meles, called the PS-LADV-1 “SkyWatcher”. PS acquired plans for the vehicle and its electronics during a trade mission to the area(part of the PDC-10 TriJet missions) in exchange for superconductor formulae. The only differences between the Roman and American vehicles is that PS mounts the air defense system on a Big Boss ATV-derived pickup truck, and sells the system for about 4 million credits. Also, the SkyWatcher lacks the NRR IFF codes. Though too late to be tested in the Juicer Uprising, Paladin Steel hopes the SkyWatcher will be a good seller with communities bordering the Coalition and facing possible air attack. Paladin Steel is also looking into heavier ADVs, and possibly refitting the SkyWatcher with "smart" missiles such as the BLack Talon LSAM, as they become available.

Type: NRR-ADV-3
Class: Cohort Air Defense Vehicle
Crew: Three(Driver, sensor operator, gunner)
An additional two passengers can be carried in the cab.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 200
Wheels(4) 25 each
Reinforced Cab 100
Weapons Turret 80
Sensor Array* 60
*Destroying the sensor array knocks out all bonuses for sensor-directed weaponry. Height: 10 ft
Width: 7 ft
Length: 20 ft
Weight: 5 tons
Cargo: Enough space in the cab for a few survival packs, personal possessions, and a few rifles/hand guns.
The Meles can also haul a trailer of up to 3 tons(typically additional ammunition/reloads for its weapons systems). Trailer has 100 MDC Powerplant: (Gas/Liquid Fuel or Electric)
Range: 250 miles before refueling/recharging. (Note: The Weapons Turret and associated systems run off a seperate micro-thermo-isotope power cell with a lifespan of 5 years, so even if the vehicle is stalled for lack of power, the ADS will be operational. However, the powercell CANNOT be rigged to power any other systems, other than the ADS electronics, without taking the ADS completely offline).
Speed: 100 MPH(unlimbered w/o trailer-tow)
Typical speed is 50 mph
Water speed is 5 mph
Cost: Rarely available in Europe; a fully equiped Melees would fetch up to 7 million credits on the Black Market.
In North America, the SkyWatcher sells for 4 million credits Systems/Features:
Radio: 500 mile range directional
5 miles short range.
Amphibious
NBC-sealed environmentally-controlled cab and turret with 10 hours independant life support Trailer Hitch(in rear)
IFF(Identify Friend or Foe) Transponder----Identifies transponder-equiped NRR units(aircraft, PA, etc.), preventing “friendly fire” -style casualties. The American SkyWatcher lacks these codes, instead having a "blank slate" for the buyer to program transponder/IFF codes of their own. Radar: 50 mile range. Identify/track 48 targets
Auto-Defense(“Sentry”) mode: This allows the Meles to be set on automatic semi-autonomous operation, allowing it to automatically fire on any (identified) target body entering its monitored air space. Sentry mode is enabled only when the vehicle is standing still(the system can’t deal with all the conflicting sensor-readings generated when on the move), and typically only in areas where the Romans don’t expect to encounter non-IFF tagged friendlies.
Datalink: The Meles can be linked(by short-range radio telemetry---1 mile maximum range, or more often, fiber-optic hardlink) with other Meles to share targeting information and form a network. Operationally, this allows AD vehicles to prioritze targets entering their area(so they all don’t fire on the same target when one vehicle will do), or use the highest strike bonuses of one of the vehicles to target one specific intruder(the other vehicles are essentially slaved to the best gunner). Up to 8 Melees can be linked in this manner.

Weapons Systems:
1) Twin Rapid-Fire Anti-Aircraft AutoCannon
A copy of Triax’s TX-862FC AA Battery, linked to a more advanced Selenia fire-control system, the Meles system benefits from having a larger payload and more stable firing platform.
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single rd
1d6x10 MD double rds
3d6x10 MD six round burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
4 attacks per melee when on auto-defense
Payload:1600 rds(800 rds in each ammo drum; 266 rapid-fire volleys, or 800 double-rd bursts)
Sensor Bonuses:
+2 strike on automatic
+3 to strike when operated manually

2) Short-Range Missile Drum
A large six-shot SRM pod. The missiles can either be manually reloaded(takes 2 strong technicians and 1d4 melees to hand-load, align, and pre-fire test each missile) or the entire drum-luancher can be replaced in 2 melees by power-armored or forklift-equiped crews
Range: Varies
Damage: Varies
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2,3, or 6(all)
Payload: 6 short range missiles

3) Mini-Missile Pod
A smaller 10-shot mini-missile luancher fitted underneath the SRM drum, that fires salvos of unguided AA rockets in point-defense.
Range: Varies by particular mini-missile type used
Damage:Varies by particular mini-missile type used
Rate of Fire: volleys of 1,2, 5, or 10(all)
Payload: 10 mini-missiles

4) Cab-mounted Small Laser
A last-ditch defense, mounted on the Meles’ cab, and operated by the driver Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 1000 dual blasts. Unlimited if nuclear-powered

[taalismn]

North American/Paladin Steel West TW B-25 ‘Mitchell’ Medium Bomber
The Captain gazed at the digital readouts, the icon Head Up Display, the fly-by-wire controls, listened to the electric hum of the engines and the whirr of actuators, then looked out the window at the long stretch of dull-green wing and the blurring propellor, and reflected once again, that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same....
He had had plenty of time to experience that feeling, ever since he had realized that he was not growing old, nor seemed capable of dying, especially after he’d taken a Saracen’s spear through his chest at Damascus. He’d been born a bastard of war, byblow of some Crusader’s passage on the way through Constantinople, and he’d stayed in the trade of war, not so much by choide, as by convenience....Once he’d realized his gift and curse, he had tried other things, but he always seemed pulled back to the life of a soldier....Mostly because when a war was to be fought, people tended not to take notice of things like unaging appearance....They just ascribed his survival to skill or luck....And when the fighting was done, he’d slipped off to some other army, some other conflict, under another name....In such manner, the Captain had gone through the long years, graduating from sword and shield, through flintlocks and pikes, cavalry and cannon, machine guns and biplanes, tanks and twin-engine bombers, lasers and hovercraft....He’d passed from land to land, Old World to New World, watched the hopes and dreams of generations pass, and seen the emergence of the next....He’d seen the cycle of hope and despair, peace and war, and yet there had been a slow and grinding progress behind it all....And when he’d hoped for a eventual end of his martial wanderings in the promise of the Golden Age, there had come the unexpected harshness of its fall...in the Coming of the Rifts....That had surprised him, and shocked him, as it changed everything...
Well, ALMOST everything....
How ironic, that after all these centuries, he’d be back behind the controls of a propellor-driven warplane that looked almost exactly like one he’d flown before, and over the same waters, no less....He was even once again in the 345th Bombardment Group, its name resurrected by some historically-minded officer back in the CTE.....These post-Rifts generation kids, so infatuated with the past. If it smacked of the old Golden Age, they’d take it up and copy it, or brandish it like a banner, without really knowing what it really was...
He sighed. He couldn’t really blame them for looking back to times that seemed more clear-cut and certain, rather than to the unknowable future, though it struck him as odd that many whose peoples were unknown to the Earth of that time would also share that same nostalgia, like it was contagious or something. Their Halfling mechanic, for instance, seemed as enraptured and knowledgable of his charges’ design lineage as any of the other Technowizard pilots, perhaps moreso than of his own racial line’s history....And what to make of his Silurian tail gunner’s infatuation with tales of old human naval and air battles? For all his centuries of existance, the Captain just had no explanation....
The beeping of the navigation radar HUD brought him out of his woolgathering...Enough time spent on old past memories, it was time to start thinking about surviving the present.
The radios crackled with the terse clipped language of imminent combat; callsigns exchanged, numbers counted, readiness re-affirmed. Adjustments were made to flight path, to the tightness of the formation, and to the equipment of individual stations. And a greenish-grey splotch on the far horizon of blue-grey was rapidly growing and expanding as the aircraft rushed to meet it.
“Guns hot.”
“Birds armed.”
“EW Active.”
“MC Active”
“Shields Activated.”
“Ghosts out.”
Suddenly a squadron became a wing of bombers, menacing in their numbers, as a wave of magic doppelgangers appeared, simultaneous with an accompanying unseen wave of electronic countermeasures. A ripple and gleam swept over the aircraft, as virtual armor materialized into place. The attack was now on a hot approach to the atoll ahead.
Unbidden, another memory flashed before his eyes, of the attack on , when his old wing had attacked the Japanese supply fleet at Linga Yen......an island not so far or different from this one, he thought....and where they had lost Captain Irish and the crew of Shamrock Lady, and he had lost his co-pilot and bombardier to Japanese ack-ack.....He wondered who and how many they might lose today....
Then, there was no time for memory, and only action, as the beach swept under them like a marathon finish line, and suddenly they were zooming over palm trees that almost scrapped the bellies of their aircraft. A carpet of green zipped under them, then was broken by the glowing beads of plasma fire...they’d been spotted already!....His hand jerked on the stick, sending the plane zigging and zagging in its course to evade the fire, but he was careful not to send the plane careening into its wingmates....But the fire was disorganized, unguided...he did not feel any impacts....Dimly, though, his mind registered the hammering of guns from the rear, as his crew tried to fire back at the enemy positions before they got out of range.
Then the forest openned up again into a bright blue bay, and the looming alien mass of an anchored Horune Dreamship, drawn up alongside the inner atoll beach and the small port there. The Captain nosed his plane down, his eyes already reading the HUD icons, and also registering the sight of small, claw-armed figures running from the ship and shore facilities. Figures that disappeared in smoke , dust, and grue as they stumbled into the box of the HUD sight, and into the kill-zone of the B-25G’s nose cannon. Tracers and fireballs flew from all directions as he lined up the bomber with the Horune raider....Time seemed to crawl as the B-25 closed with the giant arched alien craft.
“Bombs away!”
Then it was over, the ship angling away, the barely seen glare of flares arcing away in an effort to divert any pursuing missile fire. A wave of concussive force and near blinding light pushed at them briefly as something, or several somethings, went up all at once, and for a moment he could have sworn he saw fragments of something pinwheel past his plane, before disappearing into the jungle.
“It’s gone! IT’S GONE!!!! IT’S OUTA HERE!!!!” yodelled his tail gunner. A brief and shallow turn to one side to confirm, indeed, the rising cloud of spray and smoke where the Dreamship had once been, then, just as quickly, a sharp turn back onto an escape course.
Relative calm returned to the cockpit for a moment, as the aircraft outranged any pursuing fire. There were several red lights on the systems board...nothing critical, but the aircraft would need careful husbanding on the return flight. There was a trace of burnt composite in the cabin air, even through his helmet filters...but all of his crew responded in the positive to his inquiries....They hadn’t lost anyone. It was when they did a radio check that they discovered that they were missing one of their squadron mates.
The Captain remembered that, too, from the first time he’d flown one of these...The wingmates who never made it back...

The TW B-25 is a late arrival to a recent TechnoWizard wave of replica ‘classic’ aircraft of the pre-Rifts era. It is beleived that this particular conversion was sponsored/subsidized by the TechnoWizards of the Paladin Steel West’s Magic Division. Though already responsible for creating such modern wonders as the TWF-94 StarFire Fighter, some of the resident T-Wizards felt a certain degree of nostalgia-oriented professional jealousy of the various TW ‘golden oldies’ entering service---after all, they had access to cutting edge materials and techniques, and were sitting on the remains of the old Boeing Seattle facilities, so why couldn’t ---no, why WEREN’’T----they doing the same? Surely, they could produce a half-way decent TW adaptation of an old pre-jet design?
The TW B-25 is the first of their efforts.
The original B-25 found its niche in tactical bombardment, and particularly in the Pacific Theatre, where Yankee ingenuity and inspired command turned the B-25 into an island-hopping, infantry-strafing, ship-hunting airborne menace to Imperial Japanese control of the Western Pacific islands. Light, fast, and maneuverable, the aircraft could provide the sort of spot-tactical bombing raids and support missions necessary to harass Japanese positions dug in in the thick jungle and small harbors of the Western Pacific. Daredevil pilots soon also mastered the foolhardy tactic of flying low and fast against flak-equipped enemy shipping, in order to ‘skip’ their bombs across the water and up against vulnerable ship hulls(air-launched torpedoes being in short supply and notoriously unreliable).
The B-25 was remarkably well-armed for an aircraft of its size; wartime pressures having shoehorned in a staggering number of defense guns and strafing cannon into the small two-engined airframe. Tail, waist, roof turret, and nose gun positions provide air defense coverage from almost all angles; only the underbelly is inadequately covered. Its bomb bay could carry up to 3,000 pounds of ordnance.....Particularly parachute-retarded ‘parafrags’ that would airburst to shred vulnerable enemy aircraft in their revetments, and cut down ground personnel with a downburst of flying shrapnel. Later models would substantially upgrade the number of nose guns, and even add heavy cannon, to make them more effective strafers and ground attack craft.
The modern revival of the old warbird takes advantage of both new Techno-Wizardry and new aviation technologies. Externally, the TW-B-25 resembles the classic prop-driven original, but internally, it is a wholly different beast. Megadamage plastics and alloys replace the original duraluminum, a pair of power-armor-rated micro-pack nuclear fusion generators mounted in the main fuselage just aft of the rear bomb bay bulkhead replace the original wing-mounted Wright R-2600s(a back-up TW propulsion system provides backup and leyline ‘cruise’ capability), and light rail guns replace most of the original machine guns. The avionics have been upgraded to include laser-guidance bomb sights, and the old hydraulic flight system upgraded with robotic actuator controls(the engineers wanted to install a total FBW system, but the Techno-Wizards insisted on a plane one could ‘fly by feel’).
The PSW TW-B-25 has proven a commercial success to small nations and mercenary groups looking for a relatively inexpensive, but quality, tactical bombardment aircraft, but who cannot afford or get approval for PS’s more advanced modern designs.
So far, the TW-B-25 is produced only by Paladin Steel’s West Coast PSW branch, and is seen mainly there, but a few dozen have filtered back to the East Coast, where they are seeing service with the GNEAF and associated Irregulars units.
Type: PSW-TW-B-25
Class: Medium Bomber
Crew: 5-7(pilot, co-pilot, navigator/gunner, bombardier/gunner, 1-3 gunners)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 400
Reinforced Crew Compartments(2, fore and aft) 90 each
Wings(2) 200 each
Engines(2) 150 each
Dorsal Turret 50
Waist Gun Blisters(2) 45 each
Tail Assembly 120
Tail Gun 50
Height: 16 ft
Length: 54 ft 11 in.
Wingspan: 67 ft 7 in.
Weight:17,258 pounds empty, 28,557 pounds maximum
Cargo: 3,000 lb bomb payload---Typically 500 lbs of addittional survival gear/supplies in the main fuselage
Powerplant: Twin PS-PA-NFP-00178 Micro-Pac Nuclear Fusion Generators mounted in the fuselage w/ 15 year energy life
PPE Generator----(Light)----200 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 20PPE/hour at a leyline, 40 PPE/hour on a nexus
Speed: Maximum speed 322 mph at 15,000 feet. Service ceiling 30,000 feet
Market Cost: 9-10 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems, plus;
*Radar, w/ Terrain-Following and Look-Down capabilities; effective range of 80 miles.
*Advanced Laser Bomb-Sighting---PS has developed the Sauron III Bombsight for the B-25. This system uses a combination of ranging lasers and microwave radar ranging (as well as, it is rumored, a TW Magic Pigeon spell) for pinpoint accuracy. The system can also be used to illuminate targets for laser-guided ‘smart’ munitions. The system gives a +2 to strike with ‘iron’ ordnance, +6 for ‘smart’ munitions, plus if the bombardier makes his Read Sensory Instruments roll, adds the operator’s HTH ‘strike’ bonuses(if any) to the total.
*Internal Fire Extinguisher System---Internal halon-chemical gas system can be engaged to snuff out onboard fires.

Weapons Systems:
1)Bomb Bay----The B-25 can carry up to 3,000 lbs of bombs or ordnance in its main bomb bay. A modular cage assembly allows the bay to be quickly fitted for standard bomb racks or rotary missile launchers. TW Elemental and other magically-enhanced munitions are a favorite of crews. Some standard configurations are as follows:
*100 23-lb Retarded ‘Parafrag’ Bombs----Equivalent to MRM fragmentation warheads
*100 Mini-Missiles---Volleys of 1-20
* 40 SRMs---Volleys of 1-10
*20 MRMs---Volleys of 1-5
*16 “Hammer’ Missiles---These are pirated versions of Triax’s own concussion missile technology
*4 LRM Cruise Missiles

2) Point Defense .50 cal Machine Guns(6)---The B-52 fairly bristles with firepower; a dorsal twin-gun turret, two single-mount waist guns, and two tail guns. 5ST engineers have elected to use standard technological light rail guns in place of magical weapons(though TW equivalents can be substituted), arguing that the solid kinetic punch delivered by these weapons is more useful in defeating energy-resistant foes. Each gun position is fitted with its own laser-targeting system.
Note: Some buyers opt to substitute other weapons, such as the TK Heavy Machine Guns(see #2) (for overall standardization of weaponry), or heavier energy and projectile weapons, but the majority(70%) of TW-B-25 operators spring for projectile point defense armament.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single shot, 4d6 MD per 20 rd burst, 6d6 MD per 30 rd burst
Dual tail- and turret-guns can fire synchronized bursts from BOTH guns for DOUBLE damage(each synchronized burst counts as ONE attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 6,000 rds (200 maximum bursts) per gun
Bonus: +1 to strike

3) Forward Attack Nose-Mount Cannon(8)-----The standard model B-25 with the glazed bombardier’s nose section, carries an impressive forward armament of 2 machine guns in forward-firing sponson-blisters on each side of the cockpit( four total), and four fixed forward in the nose proper(for a total of eight). 5ST engineers elected to use standard-model TK-Heavy Machine Guns already in common usage with other TW designs.
Range: 4,000 ft(double on ley lines)
Damage: 6d6 MD burst per gun.
A full salvo from all eight guns, firing at once, does 4d6x10+15 MD!
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; the arming spells must be re-primed and recharged every four weeks.

4) Flare/Chaff Launchers(2)-----A modern addition; anti-missile countermeasure launchers mounted on the main fuselage, just underneath each waist gun position, and firing to the sides. .
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is nuetralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will aslo temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 24 chaff clusters(12 per launcher)

5)(Optional) Underwing Rocket Hardpoints(8, 4 under each wing)----The B-25 has the option of being fitted with a set of wing hardpoints for unguided 5-inch rockets(effectively mini-missiles). Conventional mini-missiles/rockets may be substituted with TW Rockets.
Range: Varies by Mini-Missile Type
Damage:Varies by Mini-Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4
Payload: 8, 4 under each wing


TW Features:
*Ley Line Flier---Can fly effectively indefinitely on a ley line.
*Levitation----A low-powered Levitation spell allows the aircraft to make STOL takeoffs and landings, especially important when using unimproved fields or when heavily laden. Can also be used by ground crews to taxi and move landed aircraft for servicing and repair. 30 minutes per 5 PPE.
*Breath Without Air----Enables the aircraft to fly at high altitude without standard pressurization reinforcement----10 minutes per 10 PPE.
*TW Fire Control System----Supplements the regular fire extinguisher system, and is often more effective at controling electrical and chemical fires. Costs 4 PPE per minute/activation.
*Forcefield---Provides 50 MDC per 10 PPE/20 ISP pumped into the system; lasts 10 minutes per 10 PPE/20 ISP.
*Multiple Image----Next to useless against modern sensor systems, this decoy projector has proven far more effective in low-level attacks, where it has been shown most enemy defenders have less time to waste acquiring a target and more inclined to use basic optical sighting. Creates 3 images.
Range: ‘Ghosts’ can be projected up to 5,000 ft away
Duration: 5 minutes per activation
PPE Activation Cost: 20 PPE per activation

Variants:
The most common and easiest variants of the B-25 simply involve replacing the various machine guns with other techno-wizardry weapons, light rail guns, energy rifles, and light cannon. However, a few more radical models also exist:

*B-25G Strafer----The Strafer model is accomplished by replacing the glazed bombardiers’s nose with a solid nose with an automated ventral sensor turret and no less tham EIGHT forward-firing machine guns. With the four side-mount weapons, this gives the B-25G no less than 12 foward-firing guns! The downside of this feature is that the solid nose removes the bombardier, and the automated bombsighting system is not quite as accurate as the manned version with dedicated operator.
a) Heavy Nose-Mount TK-Machine Guns(12)
Range: 4,000 ft(double on ley lines)
Damage: 6d6 MD burst per gun.
A full salvo from all twelve guns, firing at once, does 7d6x10 MD!
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; the arming spells must be re-primed and recharged every four weeks.

*B-25G(C) ‘Strafer/Canonner’---Nearly as common, and as popular, as the Strafer is the Strafer variant, that drops the number of guns in the nose from eight, to FOUR(but retaining the four sponson guns), but adds a 75mm cannon offset to the portside. This weapon gives the aircraft a massive punch for slamming through armored targets.
a) Heavy Nose-Mount TK-Machine Guns
Range: 4,000 ft(double on ley lines)(8)
Damage: 6d6 MD burst per gun.
A full salvo from all eight guns, firing at once, does 4d6x10+15 MD!
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; the arming spells must be re-primed and recharged every four weeks.
b) Rail Cannon(1)----PS engineers have substituted a Kera-Tech KTH-130B 70mm Heavy Rail Cannon (a scaled-up version of the tried and true KTH-65 32mm Assault Rail Gun) for the original 75mm cannon. The weapon has a slow rate of fire, but tremendous range and damage potential for an aerial weapons system. Because of its mounting and mission, the weapon has fewer ammunition options available to it than its smaller cousins, but those that it does, are powerful ordnance tailored for anti-armor and anti-shipping work.
Range: 15,000 ft
Damage: APFS-DU (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized, Depleted Uranium) - 6D6x10 MD, no blast radius
HE (High Explosive) 1D6x10+10 MD to a 32 ft radius
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: 60 rds in an internal drum.

*Naval NB-25 ‘Doolittle’---Although no official navalized version of the B-25 was produced during World War Two for shipboard carrier operations, PS engineers have, either by misinterpretation of the historical record, or just on a whim, developed a naval variant, equipped for carrier operations. The NB-25 is primarily intended as a carrier-based land-attack bomber and strafer; trials to test the NB-25 as a torpedo launch platform have proven inconclusive(part of the problem stems from the fact that the bomber crews seem more adept at skipping regular iron bombs in over the water than in assuming the slow and steady approaches necessary to successfully launch torpedoes).
Major modifications include folding wings outboard of the engine nacelles, flotation cells in the wings and fuselage(for emergency ditching), nose-mounted surface search radar, and a tail arrestor hook. To assist in short deck takeoffs, the NB-25 features a set of cold-jet JATO (actually rechargeable TW Wind Rush devices) bottles under the wings for ‘sharp starts’.
Armament-wise, the ‘Doolittle’ can carry two heavy torpdoes, 6 medium torpedoes, or 8 heavy depth charges(parachute retarded) in addition to the standard fitout of guns and possible rockets.

[Aramanthus]

Some nice new entries. I know the Federated States can use all of this nice new vehicles. I was thinking the Jeb might still have use as an "Air borne" drop tank. Because of their small size an airborne division could carry quite a few of them with them on an air drope. Just my thoughts on it.

[batlchip]

A very good story taalismn I really liked it. btw,The Captain in the story won't be related to the RDF guy would he taalismn?
(although I stold the concept from Barry Sandler's Casca.)

[abtex]

Air Elemental powered BiPhibi Hover Wheels a new meaning to stealth.

If I can figure out what spells to use for the track system (and it's brother the Earth Rollers, ie. tires)...

Elemental ‘animal’ natural abilities? Seem to have something between the Carpet and PS's Gloop the sticky goop but the creature had ability to turn at will. To help the creature coop with the weight of the vehicle (X) PPE is needed.

How that to start with? Do not need spells pre-say just use natural Abilities and take a short cut.

[taalismn]

More consolidation..

Paladin Steel/Pandora Armaments Atlas-Wire Monofilament
(aka ‘Slicer-String’. ‘Shiga Wire’, ‘HellWire’, ‘Hellstring’)

“Hellstring is right....this stuff is treacherous...thinner than a hair, but cuts like a vibroknife...Set a few traps in the woods, and the enemy gets filleted just walking around in the woods, with no idea of what hit them...Problem is, it’s as dangerous to the user as to the intended targets...forget EXACTLY where you put it, and the odds are you’ll only realize you’ve walked into it is when your body starts sliding apart....Every year we have some rookie lose an arm or leg, and a few need instant resurrection, walking into traps that haven’t been properly disposed of. The wires are supposed to flourese when we hit them with a specific wavelength of ultra-violet, but command doesn’t want that nosed about, for fear of giving away the secret....and I hear that there are types of hellwire without the tag-frequency...bet that makes life easy for the specops teams that use the stuff...”

Paladin Steel’s new high strength mono-molecular filament may not e up to the nano-machined materials said to have been in development before the Coming of the Rifts, but the stuff is still pretty exotic. Paladin Steel produces the filament at its orbital factories, creating large artificial crystals, then using special industrial processes to ‘unravel’ them and re-order the shed material into a single long coherent chain.
A single whisker-fine fiber can pull up to 60 tons. Braided together into visible, and less dangerous, ‘rope’(‘Atlas-Weave’), is widely used by PS’s space effort for orbital tethers and space construction...a braided thread-cord of the material can hold up to 200 tons, ideal for anchoring orbital structures. Its distribution and applications on the Earth’s surface have just begun to be realized.
Damage: Used as weapon, a single(unbraided) strand does 1d4 MD
Cost: 60 credits per yard(Braided)
Unbraided Atlas-Wire is rarely available outside the GNE armed services, and may cost as much as 2-5 times the usual price per yard(Unbraiding the commercially ‘safed’ Atlas-wire is a long and tedious process that more often than not results in damaged, useless, strands). Typically spooled on bright orange safety spools/handles of special ceramic.

Snap Wire

(zip)(tic!)(snick!)(thump)(thud)
----(Snap Wire at work)

Snap Wire is a weapons application of Atlas Monofilament; a braided strand of monofilament molecularly arranged so that in its ‘bundled’ mode it is not dangerous, but with a quick snap-pull, can be openned up to become a lethal vibro-garrote. Another sharp pull and turn returns it to its safe mode. Snap Wire first saw issuance with Special Forces who typically carried a strand of the stuff concealed inside their belts or rifle straps. It is also very popular with special agents; popular concealments include watch bands, jewelry, clothing buttons, and shoe laces.
Damage: Used as weapon, a single(unbraided) strand does 1d4 MD
Cost: 450 credits per safety-spooled one-yard strand

Cutter Trap Web----
A new experimental Paladin Steel system, the Cutter Trap Web System is a modified mini-missile(or large grenade) used to deploy a swarm of tethered fletchettes that pull lengths of PS’s newly developed Atlas-Wire monomolecular filament line out from a central bobbin, then anchor themselves, as they embed in the surroundings(trees,buildings...it’s fairly useless in open, flat, country), stretching the nearly invisible cords tight. Incredibly strong, but razor sharp, and incredibly tough, the cords will clothesline anyone wandering through the trap zone. The real danger is that the cords can slice like mini-vibroblades, and though they may not do as much initial damage as a dedicated vibroblade or plasma cutter, the nearly invisible(hair-fine) and incredible strong(60 ton tensile strength for a hair-fine filament) fibers can wrap around a moving object, and are pulled in and around it, entangling and cutting. Only by stopping immediately, and VERY slowly removing the fibers and untangling oneself can a victim escape further harm.
Since the filaments are so fine(no more substantial than a fresh strand of spider web), they appear on most optical enhancement systems and motion detectors as similar to smoke or haze....Extremely perceptive characters might notice, in bright light, the faint point of the central join-point, or the fletchettes embedded in the walls...in a dimly lit or dark area, the trap is pretty much impossible to detect.
Range: Depends on launch system
A set Web Trap covers a 20 ft radius(depending on the availability of vertical surfaces, like walls, trees, or light poles, to help anchor the trap).
Damage: 1d4 MD when one walks or runs into it, +1 MD point for every 5 MPH of speed
In addition, there is a 30% chance per melee of being trapped inside the trap and thrashing around, of pulling 1d4 lines loose from their moorings and becoming entangled in them. In addition to doing additional damage(1d4 MD per line per action taken to attempt to escape) as the wires slide over/through the victim, the wire can also foul air intakes, drive fans, wings, and other moving parts.
Gun Turrets and other moving parts that are swiveling and moving will take 1d6 MD damage per action, and may become hopelessly fouled and unable to move without destroying themselves(2d4 MD per movement/attempt to free themselves).
If the wire is accidentally drawn into the air intake for a turbine or hover-fan system, there is a good(20%) chance of fouling the internal mechanism of the engine and causing it to tear itself apart/burn out.
Extricating oneself from such a trap will take at least 2d6 melees of careful(i.e., nervewracking) work and no doubt more than a few close calls.
Special: Cutter Traps are almost impossible to spot; -10 to Perception rolls
Great care must be taken with Cutter Trap Webs, lest an unsuspecting ally or oneself accidentally wander through a trap web one has already set. For that reason, Cutter Webs are typically manufactured with minor surface ‘impurity’ tags along the molecular chain, that light up when hit with certain frequencies of ultraviolet light, lighting up quite clearly on infrared sensors. GNE and PS troops are trained to use special rods made of megadamage material akin to the chain’s own material to gather up and recycle the webs.
Cost: Cutter Trap warheads typically cost 3,000 credits each, availability is poor, and currently limited to GNE forces and affiliated mercenary/adventurer units.

ZapTaps
“Would you like a knuckle sandwich?”

“Damn things take all the fun out of brawling...because you never know if those are rivets or ornaments on your opponent’s clothing, or zappers waiting to vape you when you get stroked...and it’s kinda hard to ask the other guy to strip off his duds when the blood alk’s high....”
-----’Bloody Knucks’ Wilson, Bar-Crawler, Silver City

‘ZapTaps’ are special point-contact weapons developed from the Gargoyle Blaster Knuckle Spikes(see Rifts: Triax and the NGR), examples of which were brought back by PS agents. The weapon’s most interesting feature, the contact pulse blaster, has been reverse engineered and developed in a series of potent melee weapons. The ZapTap resembles a stud or contact plate attached to a battery; when tapped hard, the plate releases a sudden electrical charge powerful enough to vaporize most materials

Zap Taps come in various sizes; the smallest being a low-powered stud pad that can be mounted on gloves or armor sections, and the largest model being a mace-like club capable of vaporizing concrete.

Model 1---The smallest model. These are rivet-sized contacts that can be incorporated into a gauntlet or bionic hand. A single stud can deliver a powerful and incapacitating jolt; a set of them going off at once vaporizes flesh and metal. Typically, 1-4 contacts will be mounted on a common battery pack for convenience.

Model 2---The larger model, about the size of a computer mouse or lightbulb. It’s more powerful, and requires a larger battery as a result, but the model can be incorporated into EBA, power armor, and large melee weapons. Two of the most popular applications of the Model 2 are Blast Pads and the Lightning Faust.
Blast Pads are elbow and knee protectors with the reinforced contact plate over the elbow or the kneecap, powered either by a separate battery pack inside the reinforced fabric attachment cuff, or by an E-clip ‘fannypack’ connected to the ZapTaps by power cabling. These pads are very popular with urban warriors and Juicers, who enjoy mixing it up in close quarters, and as a result, many communities have already outlawed these weapons. A field variant on this that has gained some serious attention by PS Engineering, is the street trick of modifying a vehicle bumper with a recessed row of Blast Pads connected to the vehicle’s electrical system, thus giving the vehicle an improvized ‘explosive ram’ for more damage. First seen among street gangs in the Relic, the improvization has since been standardized as a production option for many PS-built ground vehicles.
The Lightning Faust is a bo-staff/mace weapon that resembles a classic studded mace or morning star, and incorporates the same principle, but on a smaller scale. The reinforced head of the mace is studded with blast contacts, powered by
an e-clip in the hilt.

Blast Pads and Zap Taps do have one major problem, however; it is not recommended that one use them in water. Unless the wearer is also wearing insulated armor or is otherwise protected against energy discharges, it is possible for the shock burst to travel through the water(1d4 ft in any/all directions) and do HALF damage to the user of the Blast Pad. In one incident, a Juicer tried to punch an opponent with a Blast Padded fist, while both were caught in a torrential downpour. The humidity saturation was enough that the Juicer killed his opponent, but also cooked his arm off.....

Weight: (Model 1 Stud Pad) 8 ounces
(Model 2 Blast Pad) 1.8 lbs
(Lightning Faust) 10 lbs
Range:(Model 1 Stud Pad) Melee
(Model 2 Blast Pad) Melee
(Lightning Faust) Melee
Damage:(Model 1 Stud Pad) Two settings; 5d6 SDC or 1 MD
(Model 2 Blast Pad) 2d4 MD
(Lightning Faust) 4d6 MD
Rate of Fire: (All models) ECHH
Payload:(Model 1 Stud Pad) Mini-Eclip has enough power for 50 SDC jolts or 5 MD shots
(Model 2 Blast Pad) 50 blasts from a Standard E-Clip pack
(Lightning Faust) 18 blasts from a Standard E-Clip pack
Bonuses: From W.P. skills or hand to hand skills only
Special Features:(Model 1 Stud Pad)--Optional clear high-density plastic cover slip(prevents backflash damage to leather/fabric mounting...like the glove it’s mounted in)
(Model 2 Blast Pad)---Optional light-up when powered up
(Lightning Faust)
*Telescoping Staff Section---Can extend out an additional 4 ft.
Cost:(Model 1 Stud Pad)20,000 credits
(Model 2 Blast Pad)80,000 credits
(Lightning Faust)90,000 credits

[taalismn]

Air Elemental powered BiPhibi Hover Wheels a new meaning to stealth.

If I can figure out what spells to use for the track system (and it's brother the Earth Rollers, ie. tires)...

Elemental ‘animal’ natural abilities? Seem to have something between the Carpet and PS's Gloop the sticky goop but the creature had ability to turn at will. To help the creature coop with the weight of the vehicle (X) PPE is needed.

How that to start with? Do not need spells pre-say just use natural Abilities and take a short cut.

Also have other way around it...have GMR materials technology...GMR being Gravi-Magnetic Resist(or Repulsion)...sort of a crude form of anti-gravity using room temperature superconductors and the Earth's magnetic field...Once I start fielding some standard GMR vehicle chassises, you'll start seeing older weapons configurations mounted on new hulls...

[taalismn]

Special Cybernetics/Bionics Systems:
‘Borg TW Systems
PSWest’s technowizards have always been frustrated by the inability of cyborgs to use all but the simplest of TW devices, and PSW has long sought to merge its two greatest ‘new generation’ strengths, its bionics program and its technowizardry program, rather than continue to produce two isolated, divergent product lines.
PSW reasoned that one of the greatest difficulties that ‘borgs have in using TW, is in initiating the TW action/reaction, owing to the fact that the cyborg’s PPE ‘essence’ and the motivating will to USE the magic in a TW device, was ‘insulated’ from contact with the TW devices’ own PPE, by the borgs’ own bionics. Directing their research down these paths of thought, working independently of others’ efforts to do the same, PSW has finally made some breakthroughs.

*PSW Cyborg TW Interface----The exact nature of this device is not yet known, but it involves a sophisticated operation that threads a series of ultra- fine(mostly enchanted pure silver, but later Ectofiber) wires into the ‘borg’s brain and central nervous system. This network is further connected to a series of main ‘nerve trunks’ that hook up to special interface plugs, usually in the head, neck, and wrists, that in turn can connect to specially fitted TW devices. This special ‘essence link’ allows the ‘borg to use and activate already charged TW devices, but does NOT allow them to recharge depleted TW devices from their own small PPE reserves.
This system can be fitted to any cyborg who so requests it(and can put the credits up). Currently, PSW is making it standard equipment for new cyborgs, and is offering to refit older cyborgs(PS employees for free, all others in GNE service at 30% discount).
Note: While this implant allows a ‘borg to pick up and use TW devices, only specially fitted TW devices may be used. Otherwise its as dead as before. This isn’t a problem for newer PS TW, which come factory-standard with the necessary modifications, but the greater field of existing TW devices CANNOT be used. Fitting an older TW device is possible, but costs 20-30% of the original device cost. PSW is working on a ‘universal adaptor’ type clamp device, or a touch-plate interface to get around the need to hardwire TW devices for use, but these systems are still in the experimental stages.
Cyborg TW Interface Cost: 300,000 credits

*TW “Borg Amulet---This is actually a highly specialized mini-Multiplexor/Amulet wired directly into the cyborg’s central nervous system, so their minds can trigger the TW device. The ‘Borg Amulet is powered by its own separate, replaceable, PPE Battery. The Amulet cannot be used to cast offensive, combat-oriented spells, but can be used to activate defensive/self-effect spells. Argus ‘borgs particularly like spells like Spider Climb, Featherlight, and Shadowmeld. Note, however, that when in action, the ‘Borg Amulet can be detected by PPE-sensitive beings, like Dogboys.
A ‘Borg Amulet can hold up to one spell
PPE Battery: 100 PPE
Cost: 50,000 for the amulet itself,; spellcards cost extra(500 credits x creating caster’s level +(5,000 credits x spell PPE)). Warlock spells cost 20% more.

SVRES Machine Unit
“Karl”
“Sharlene”
“KARL!”
“SHARLENE!”
“KARL...oh...KARL”
“SHARLENE...oh...SHARLENE!”
“Oh yes. oh yes...please...yesyesyesyes”
“Oh...migod...oh, you...you’re..oh yes”
“KAAAAARRRRRRRRRLLLL!!!!”
“SHAAAAALLLLEEEEEENNNNEEE!!!!!”
In a dimly lit room two bodies writhed side by side, when the beeping of the clock intruded on them, reminding them of reality...Reluctantly the two stop, and slowly come to wakefulness....
The man comes to first, slowly rising, straightening out his clothing, running a hand through his hair, gathering his wits about him, as he lifts the helmet off his head, and the ‘trodes from his wrist plugs, before turning to regard the eight foot giant of armor-plate and servomotors stretched out on the couch next to him. Triple lenses glittered back at him in silent and intense scrutiny.
A slow but sincere smile turned the corners of the man’s mouth as he murmured. “God, I love you, Sharlene.”
“I love you too, Karl.” rasped Sharlene’s deep, metallic voice.

SVRES---Shared Virtual Reality Experience System Technology
(Aka “Sex Machine””Feelie””Swears”)
SVRES technology was a pre-Rifts creation, a shared virtual reality system originally used as a therapeutic tool in helping full conversion cyborgs cope with the trauma of dealing with becoming both more and less than human, but as time went on, the system left the clinics to become increasingly a means of helping involuntary cyborgs maintain a family social life, as well as keep volunteer conversions cope with the sensory deprivation of their new lives. SVRES systems were being readied for use offworld as well, when the Great Cataclysm hit. Sadly, much of the SVRES technology was lost, until PS managed to uncover and restore, then duplicate several units. Now SVRES technology is being released to the market again, and FC ‘borgs have never been happier.
The basic SVRES unit resembles a large cabinet with electronic leads that can jack into a cyborg’s headjacks or neural connections.
Non-augments can take also part, via induction helmets and electrode attachments.
The system works by immersing the participants in artificially-generated direct stimuli, submerging them in a full virtual reality situation with interactive elements. Physical sensations are simulated by directly stimulating, via induction, the brain’s pleasure and pain centers, in synch with what the virtual reality interaction dictates is appropriate. Initially, the earliest SVRES sessions were little more than tickling various unused/discontented nerve endings and sensations, but when ‘borg’s with families became involved, romantic sessions and simulated sexual encounters became popular. Increasingly, the SVRES technology also allowed for increasingly complex background elements to be added to the simulation, from simple stage backdrops, to increasingly complex, interactive scenarios with more active elements.
While in a SVRES session, participants are oblivious to their surroundings and must be forcibly removed from the link if they are to respond before the session timer cuts/tampers off the VR. More recent models employ preprogrammed session cutoffs and even “sub-windows” that appear as small floating insets in the participants’ VR field of vision, allowing them to see/hear what’s going on in the real world while they’re playing.
Its interesting to note that psionics work through a SVRES, meaning that a psychic’s Sixth Sense ability will work through a SVRES, and telepathic/empathic communication is still possible. In fact, a psychic attempting a scan while locked into a SVRES session may find themselves confused to detect only the presence of their ‘real’ companions and any nearby attendants, especially if the VR is telling them they are in the middle of a crowd! Another interesting observation is that characters with Machine Empathy or Telemechanics can join in a SVRES session without the need of an induction helmet or headjack, but only for as long as their psionic ability allows them, before they drop out of the simulation.
Recovering/Jacking out of a SVRES session is an ordeal in itself, owing to the total stimuli effect. Wakers are disoriented and off-balance; only 1 action/attack per melee, HALF all strike, parry., dodge bonuses, and -20% to all skills for 1d6 melees.

PSW’s newer SVRES units can also be programed/upgraded with new scenario modules, ranging from simple backgrounds for the participants to romp in, to full-blown interactive scenarios or mini-dramas. PSW maintains a studio complex at Deltaport, setting up sets and actors, filming them from every possible angle, and adding additional audio/visual/tactile stimuli, including CGI material, and recording it to chip.
SVRES units are relatively common in and around PSW’s main facilities in New Seattle and Deltaport, where private ownership, as well as large, elaborate, “VRR Dens” cater to the large ‘borg presences there. PS also makes SVRES available to its people, as does the Vermont Free State, though private ownership is less common there.
Sadly, as soon as SVRES was released, there came reports of abuse; black market copies of the machines that were dangerously defective, or machines set to dangerous levels of stimuli( for torture, murder, or kinky. dangerous pleasures). There have also been reports of some SVRES units being used to insert subliminal commands into unsuspecting clients, or trap them in virtual reality prisons. Alarmed by this, PS has exercised police powers in the areas it controls to attempt to control distribution and use of SVRES, monitoring units they’ve sold, and cracking down on illegal copies. The Vermont Free State, in particular, has made tampering with a PS certified SVRES a minor felony, illegal operation of a copy grounds for imprisonment and confiscation of the machine, and deliberate and malicious use of a SVRES to confine, torture, or maim a person a major crime(with punishments up to, and including, death). While this may seem to be an attempt to maintain a monopoly on SVRES technology, PS is genuinely concerned about the possible abuse of the system.
What really worriesPS executives about the proliferation of unmonitored SVRES technology is the growing problem of SVRES addiction. Some long-term users become so enraptured with the synthetic realities they are experiencing, that they spend more and more time ‘under the wire” and retreat from reality. This is a very real problem for those who use the SVRES on a regular basis.
SVRES addiction is treated as drug addiction, with respect to rehabilitation times and difficulties.
Weight: 500 lbs
MDC: PS SVRES units are built into durable cabinets of MDC plastic; 10-30 MDC
Cost: 500,000 credits. Cartridges can cost anywhere from 500 to 5,000 credits depending on their complexity.

[taalismn]

A very good story taalismn I really liked it. btw,The Captain in the story won't be related to the RDF guy would he taalismn?
(although I stold the concept from Barry Sandler's Casca.)

Can't say he is....But having an 'old hand' at the throttle seemed appropriate...

[abtex]

Also have other way around it...have GMR materials technology...GMR being Gravi-Magnetic Resist(or Repulsion)...sort of a crude form of anti-gravity using room temperature superconductors and the Earth's magnetic field...Once I start fielding some standard GMR vehicle chassises, you'll start seeing older weapons configurations mounted on new hulls...

Does that only have to be one way to get there.

Can you give some bases on GMR needs, power, weight. Please.
I have want to do a SemiTech Flying carpet line for years, just did not have have the right Flying tech to use.

Impact cloth for body, cockpit - sealed and folding seats or couch, power source portable, Light weapons - hand guns mostly build-in to body, Heavier weapons in Gun bags (mini carpets) hooked to Body. the short form.

[taalismn]

Also have other way around it...have GMR materials technology...GMR being Gravi-Magnetic Resist(or Repulsion)...sort of a crude form of anti-gravity using room temperature superconductors and the Earth's magnetic field...Once I start fielding some standard GMR vehicle chassises, you'll start seeing older weapons configurations mounted on new hulls...

Does that only have to be one way to get there.

Can you give some bases on GMR needs, power, weight. Please.
I have want to do a SemiTech Flying carpet line for years, just did not have have the right Flying tech to use.

Impact cloth for body, cockpit - sealed and folding seats or couch, power source portable, Light weapons - hand guns mostly build-in to body, Heavier weapons in Gun bags (mini carpets) hooked to Body. the short form.

No flying carpets yet...The smallest GMR vehicles so far are the size of tanks....or fat stubby aircraft...And they're typically micro-nuke powered to supply the power (though PS is also working on permanent state GMR)

[Aramanthus]

Some more nice new items to fill our christmas stockings with! Those are some cool ideals. Were these last four old ones or new ones?

[taalismn]

Some more nice new items to fill our christmas stockings with! Those are some cool ideals. Were these last four old ones or new ones?

It's old stuff refurbished to take into account improvements in (my) technology, and the retconned PS/GNE backstory/history, since a lot of it makes no sense read out of context, or I've since changed my mind about products that may have seemed gems or white elephants at the time I wrote them, but have since stumbled or resurged with time, public opinion, and the development of other products...

[taalismn]

Oh, I love the zappers. I can just imagine a set of brass knuckles with such an enhancement.

Well, they did evolve from the Gargoyle knuckleduster weapons...

[Aramanthus]

Gargoyle knuckle dusters? Your company certainly took them in a cool direction! I know we're looking forward to trying them out.

[taalismn]

I can just imagine what anyone trained in Hand to Hand can do armed with a power cestus that features those zappers as part of the arrangement.

That's why they're illegal in many establishments in North America
In brawls against supernaturals and cyborgs on the other hand...

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Starfire Light VTOL Transport Jet
“Well here! Welcome to Mad Jack Kelso’s Air Taxi , and what can I do for you folks? Fixin’ to travel, are you? Well, you’ve come to the right place, Mad Jack can get you there and in one piece! And we won’t take you for an arm and a leg for a bench on an overcrowded bus, no way, folks! With Mad Jack’s Air Taxi, we give you a private flight, with luxury accomodations, a knowledgable, expert pilot, and a midflight meal cooked by my darling wife...who, as you can tell by my waistline, is an accomplished chef(chuckle). Just tell me where you mean to go, and we’ll have you up and off in one of our planes in a matter of minutes!
Where are you going? WHERE!? Uhm...stranger, I believe I said we’d get you there in one piece, and that....place is not one of the ‘theres’ I was speaking of.... Next, please! ”
_Mad Jack Kelso, Kelso’s Air Taxi

“ Bluestar Seven to Hippocrates Control....am returning from 911, 4117 call... monster attack on community.....area secured when arrived... local militia assisted in stabilizing situation, and had three ready to transport....one male, one female, pregnant, one juvenile male, flex-type....male is critical, major lacerations, both legs severed, female is suffering from concussion, arm amputated at elbow, but fetal heartbeat is steady....juvenile is suffering lacerations to limbs, heavy bruising, severe emotional trauma...have started basic fluids on all patients, stabilized with TW, and am transmitting vitals... monster type tentatively identified by groundside militia as ‘bladed scorg’....be advised ETA Burlington clinic in eighteen minutes...confirm.”
---Lifestar Flight Bluestar Seven, on a typical Lifestar run.

The Starfire is a new design from Paladin Steel for a small, light, passenger transport jet. Based on a pre-Rifts concept design for a private/ small commercial jet transport, similiar to the LearJet, the Starfire is intended for small private air services, and adventurers whose concern is on speed, not combat. It first saw duty as a Vermont Free State Civil Air Patrol light transport and SAR craft, but a few have already been acquired by merchants and itinerant traders. Sales have been on the up and up, though, and the aircraft is expected to become as popular as PS’s Osprey II, Caribou II, and Hercules II VTOLs. The GNE has purchased several dozen for transport and medevac, and their testimony is expected to bring in more buyers.
The Starfire has a futuristic, streamlined, rakish look that is distinctive; a long needle nose, a slender fuselage, wings with a slight forward sweep moved to the back, looking like oversized horizontal stabilizers, a single tail fin, two stub wings at the midpoint of the undercarriage, each housing a set-flush ducted fan, a concealed ducted fan in the long nose, and twin engine pods in the tail. The Starfire is not as rugged or utilitarian as PS’s Tiltrotors, but it is faster and more agile, as implied by its sleek, sportscar-like lines. Pilots asked to test the Starfire report it to be a real smooth ride, handling like a luxury automobile. Though not really suited for combat, the Starfire has been refitted to be capable of defending itself, or of acting as a light attack aircraft, with nose-mounted laser cannons, and underwing hard points for missiles, gun pods, and countermeasures.
(Post-110 PA Update: The Starfire has become a fairly common and popular light transport, air taxi, and personal flier within the controlled airspace of the GNE, and quite a few have been sold to the open market, mainly through Lazlo, where they see similar service with city air patrols, courier services, and even some mercenary units. Although not intended as a front-line combat unit, the Starfire has seen service in the GNE military as an Army liaison aircraft, observation plane, and Forward Air Control craft.
An unexpected problem that has recently arisen is confusion between the Starfire VTOL and Hangar-18B’s TWF-94 Starfire replijet interceptor, now being produced under license by Paladin Steel and listed in their catalogue...It has been suggested that the name of one of the aircraft be changed, but PS has refused any such move, and refers to the respective aircraft by their type-codes, when proper identification and clarification becomes an issue.)

Type: PS-UT/VTOL-5
Class: Light Transport Hoverjet
Crew: Two + 1-8 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 180
Forward Fanlifter Wings(2) 40 each
Wings(2) 95 each
Engines(2) 100 each

Height: 16 ft at tail fin
Width: 42 ft wingspan
Length: 46 ft
Weight: 10.5 tons
Cargo: Enough space in the crew compartment for up to a ton of supplies/equipment. Comes with a survival package of parachutes, food and water supplies for 2 weeks, survival raft/tent, 100 ft of lightweight rope, folding shovel, radio beacon, first aid kits, flares, and hand gun pack.
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(3,500 mile range), or nuclear (10 year energy life)
Speed: Hover to 670 MPH(Mach 1), maximum altitude 45,000 ft.
Bonuses: +1 to dodge
Market Cost: (Liquid Fuel)3.5 million credits
(Nuclear) 8.5 million credits
Systems/Features:
Standard Aircraft Features, plus:
*Radio: 500 mile range
Emergency Distress Beacon
*Radar: 90 mile range
*Life Support System------Full air filtration and independant life support for 96 hours
*Internal Fire Extinguisher System
*Automatic Crash Control Systems---Special airgel canisters, auto-deploy airbags, and crash harnesses reduce the damage to crew and passengers from a forced landing by HALF.

Weapons Systems:
1) Twin Pulse Laser Cannon---These twin light laser cannon are set in fixed forward-firing mounts in the nose, and fire as a pair.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single cannon burst, 6d6 MD for double simultaneous blasts
Rate of Fire: Six times per melee
Payload: 500 blast battery capacity. Unlimited for nuclear powered models

2) Underwing Pylons----The Starfire has four underwing hardpoint pylons. The inner pylons can hold a 10 mini-missile launcher pod, 4 short-range missiles, 2 medium range missiles, or 1 long range missile, recon pod, flare/chaff launcher(18 flares/chaff bundles), cargo module(1000 lbs cargo), bombs(up to 1000 lbs per pylon), a droptank/auxiliary fuel tank(applicable only to liquid-fueled models), or a gunpod.
The inner pylons are also plumbed, and can carry a 500-gallon droptank, extending the range of liquid-fuelled versions by 50%(or double it if two are carried).
The outer two pylons can each accomodate a six-shot mini-missile pod, 1 short-range missile, or a flare/chaff launcher(18 flares/bundles). Recently, PS has added a six-shot ‘Black Talon’ LSAM/LAAM launcher firing the super-accurate missiles and greatly increasing the Starfire’s air-to-air defensive capabilities.

Options
a)Sensor Mount---This option adds a retractable sensor turret to the nose.
Sensor Turret adds the following features:
Telescopic Imaging
UV/IR Vision Optics---2000 ft range
Thermo-Imaging----2000 ft range
Laser rangefinder---6000 ft range
Video Recording System
MDC of Turret: 12
Cost: 20,000 credits

b)Tail Gun---A single fixed-mount laser weapon can be mounted in the tail to discourage pursuit.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage:4d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 1000 blast battery. Effectively unlimited if nuclear powered.
Cost: 50, 000 credits

c)*Solar Wing---The dorsal surface of the aircraft is fitted with solar panels, and the powerplants supplanted/complemented with a Super-Solar Power System. Switching over to the electric power system drops maximum speed to 155 MPH, Flying in broad daylight, mostly unobstructed sunlight gives the batteries an 7-hour charge; cloudy and overcast days cut available power to 2.5 hours.
Cost: 500,000 credits



Optional Conversion Package(s)
a)Crop Duster--Converts the Starfire into an agriculture spraying and seeding aircraft with the modification of the passenger cabin into a chemical drum and dispenser system hat can hold up to 2550 gallons of liquid. Sprayers are designed and placed so as to take advantage of the VTOL thrusters’ down-thrust for maximum dispersal. Can easily spray an area 80 ft wide from an altitude of 30 ft.
The Cropduster package was initiated as an effort to give Marketing greater leeway in selling the Starfire, and as a fallback in case the intended client market pool failed to pan out.
Cost: +20,000 credits

b)“Air Ranger” Conversion Package---For those diehards who need to have a combat version of everything, Paladin Steel offers a variant of the Starfire specifically modified for combat. Called the Air Ranger, the Combat Starfire adds armor reinforcement to key locations, 2 additional hardpoints on the VTOL thruster fins, a combat computer system, and a nose-mounted weapons turret. However, this additional hardware tends to make the Air Ranger rather heavy and less responsive.
MDC: +100 to Main Body(for 280 MDC Main Body)
+60 MDC per Wing(for 155 MDC per Wing)
Weapons Systems/Modifications:
*Two additional hardpoints capable of mounting a six-shot mini-missile pod, 1 short-range missile, or a flare/chaff launcher(18 flares/bundles) each.
*Nose Turret with 360-degree rotation, 60-degree depression. Has 35 MDC, and can mount heavy lasers, light autocannon/grenade launchers, or light railguns.
*Combat Computer(+1 to strike w/ ranged weaponry)
Penalties: Reduce maximum speed to 500 MPH. If using a liquid-fuel drive, reduce range by 20%.
Cost: +1 million credits

c) PS-EC/VTOL-5C “Hawkeye” ECM/ELINT Conversion-----This Early Warning(EW)/Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) conversion package is decidedly underpublicized among Paladin Steel’s other products, and incorporates rather radical changes to the basic Starfire airframe. The Hawkeye cants the tail fin sharply forward, and mounts an eight-foot diameter sensor disc/radome at its top, centered over the main body of the aircraft. The interior passenger cabin has been refitted to hold three technicians/comtechs, and their electronics equipment. Additional radio aerials and avionics blisters have been fitted to the wings and main body. Special reinforcement of the main body and crrew cabin provides an additional degree of protection, as well as shielding from electromagnetic surges and EMP attacks; a good thing to have considering all the additional weight and systemry not only make the Hawkeye a prime target, but limit its maneuvarability. The Hawkeye is by no means a stand-alone combat aircraft; its best strategy is to stand-off, using its long range sensors and jammers to influence the battlefield, and remain out of range, optimally behind a screen of escorts.
The Hawkeye conversion is rarely available; only five or six have been sold so far, though reportedly Free Quebec is interested in acquiring several. Though PS is touting the Hawkeye as an early warning aircraft and communications relay post for up-and-coming high-tech communities, the Coalition feels otherwise, considering the Hawkeye to be a none-too-subtle threat aimed at defeating their own communications and air-defense networks(who else is there around worth jamming), and have made possession of Hawkeye aircraft a death penalty, shoot-on-sight crime.
(Post-110 PA Update: The breakdown of relations between the GNE and Free Quebec led to the FQ Hawkeye purchase deal falling through, and the fourteen aircraft under production for the sale were subsequently re-acquired by PS; half of the aircraft immediately went to the GNEAF, and the remaining seven were sold to various approved nation-states and freelancer units.)
MDC: 80 to Main Body(for 260 MDC Main Body)
100 MDC for the Radome
Weapons Systems/Modifications:
*Advanced Long-Range Radar---This system is sensitive enough to detect large flying creatures, like gargoyles and dragons, and low-flying air vehicles like tree-skimming hovercraft and cruise missiles. Range: 200 miles
The radar system can also detect other radar systems with 98% certainty, as well as analyze their emission pattern, and backtrack to their point of origin(80%).
*Advanced ELINT Recorders----Monitor all wavebands for enemy radar/sensor activity, records it, and provides identification/analysis of known wavelengths/communications patterns. Can also been set to trigger an alarm if a particular pattern is picked up again.
*Long Range Radar /Radio Jamming---Range: 80 mile radius. 90% effectiveness
*Sensor Jamming---If caught by an enemy search/target-lock radar, either from a manned position or a missile, the Hawkeye can attempt to break the lock. In the case of missiles, the ecmtechs can attempt to take over the missiles’ systems and divert them away(roll on ECM skill to jam....roll again at -15% to take control of the missile and direct it elsewhere...roll each time the ecmtech is attempting to direct the missile through a specific action...i.e. turn 180 degrees...lock on target...switch to second target, etc.).
*Weapons Systems---The Hawkeye will typically carry only two chaff/flare pods and a pair of medium-range missiles on its pylons for self-defense. Recently, PS has added a six-shot ‘Black Talon’ LSAM/LAAM launcher firing the super-accurate missiles and greatly increasing the Starfire’s air-to-air defensive capabilities.
Penalties: Reduce maximum speed to 400 MPH. If using a liquid-fuel drive, reduce range by 20%. No bonus to dodge
Cost: +5.5 million credits

d) Medevac “Air Ambulance”------This variant was requested by the Greater New England Red Cross/Public Works states-wide medical services transport branch, who found that a light, supersonic, VTOL aircraft was ideal for air ambulance service, and was adopted by the Vermont Civil Air Patrol in their own efforts to emulate their success. The adaptations to convert the StarFire for emergency medical transport are relatively minor, and can be refitted to existing aircraft with a few (1d4)days’ work. Modifications include directable wingtip searchlight pods, larger passenger doors to allow for the easy loading and offloading of patient gurnies, an extendable winch for aerial rescue, nose turret with sensor package(see above for specific sensors) and radio locator for locating distressed people on the ground, and accomodations for up to 6 patients on stretchers, or 8 walking wounded(thanks to special folding chair/’double-decker’ bunkbeds), and 1-3 medical staff, and their equipment. A special onboard medical diagnostic system monitors the vital signs of patients, and can link to the communications systems to keep the dispatcher and ground- or ship-based medical facilities appraised of the patients’ conditions while in transit.
Cost: +500,000 credits

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel ‘Vanstar’ Light Cargo Fanjet Aircraft
(aka ‘Mini-Herc’)

“We Get You Moving”

The PS Vanstar is a (relatively) simple, low-cost fanjet aerodyne utility aircraft that was one of Vermont Free State-based Paladin Steel’s first large vehicles to break into the North American market---PS has been manufacturing the type for nearly twenty years now, and the design has spawned its share of copycats.
The Vanstar is often considered to be one of PS’s ‘knockoff’ designs, suspected on being based on pre-Rifts commercial aircraft designs.....Scholars and historically-minded operators note the similarities in the airframe design to the pre-Rifts Grumman Greyhound COD aircraft once used by the American Empire to carry cargo and passengers to its naval aircraft carrier forces at sea. Given PS’s interest in pre-Rifts engineering data, it’s a fair guess that the PS Aviation division had access to at least some US Navy airframe design hardcopy when they set out to build a light cargo aircraft that could be sold readily and relatively inexpensively, earning the company much needed income. PS had also begun to realize the shortcomings of another of its copy-designs, the Osprey II Tilt-Rotor, especially the vulnerability of the large props and rotating nacelle gearing, and wanted a more robust design in its place. .
The Vanstar looks very much like its ancient predecessor; a rather squarish, blunt-nosed, short-winged, twin-nacelled aircraft. The wing inboard of the enlarged engines is broader and more pronounced, but outboard of the engine nacelles, the wings are mere aerodynamic control stubs, rather than lifting airfoils. The tail retains its broad wide horizontal stabilizer, with four vertical fins. The main cargo access is through a drop-down cargo ramp in the rear, with additional (passenger) access through side doors forward of the wing glove/joint. The Vanstar is sturdily built from light megadamage alloys and composites, but its protective value is marginal, compared to other combat aircraft. The Vanstar also lacks a reinforced crew compartment(in order to safe weight and facilitate fast production).
Instead of turboprop engines, the Vanstar has shorter wings and enlarged engine nacelles holding a coupled pair of jet thrusters; one for forward flight and the other for VTOL thrust. When PS first began manufacturing the Vanstar, it engined the aircraft with knockoff copies of a proven Northern Gun design, the same jet thrusters that powered the Sky King. In time, PS has developed several improved powerplants and thruster designs, but the Vanstar’s engines still retain a 25% parts compatibility with the NG designs.
Naturally upset with Paladin Steel’s ‘hijacking’ of their engine design, Northern Gun immediately retaliated by producing their own copy of the Vanstar, the NG-C014 ‘Northstar’....which has been knocked off by Manistique’s own companies to produce the ‘JetBus’....all of this has led to the basic design of the Vanstar’s basic design becoming fairly ubiquitous in Black Market garages, though PS maintains that their original design is still the best value and most reliable.

The Vanstar is not an exceptional performer compared to other vehicles, and it has little chance of surviving heavy combat, but its primary purpose is transport, and with its simple operation, robust construction, and low cost, it succeeds in providing communities and companies with air transport. The Vanstar, and all its clones, are particularly common with merchants and courier companies. Despite various upgrade attempts and experiments with converting the Vanstar design to a bomber or gunship, efforts to make the aircraft combat-worthy have proven disappointing. However, often wilderness communities and smaller mercenary companies have nothing better on hand.

Type: PS-VTOL-C04
Class: Light VTOL Cargo-Utility Aircraft
Crew: 2(pilot, co-pilot/navigator); can carry up to 39 passengers, or 20 stretchers and four medical technicians
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 150
Tail 80
Tail Hatch 50
Wings(2) 70 each
Height: 15 ft
Width:40 ft
Length: 56 ft
Weight: 37,000 lbs
Cargo: Can carry 39 passsengers or 15,000 lbs of cargo
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 15 year energy life
Speed: (Flying) Hover to 450 MPH, maximum altitude 34,000 ft
Market Cost: 2.8 million credits
Systems of Note:
*Landing Lights
*Three-point Landing Gear
*Polarized Flash-Protection Windshields
*Fuselage De-Icers
*Radar---90 miles
*Radio----200 mile range
*Cabin Pressurization and Air Filtration(good for 32 hours of independent air supply)
Weapons Systems: None standard(see options)

Options:
Paladin Steel(and to a lesser extent, Northern Gun and other Black Market copycats) has a range of options, as they do with most of their designs, available for customizing and upgrading Vanstars

*Solar Wing---The dorsal surface of the aircraft is fitted with solar panels, and the powerplants supplanted/complemented with a Super-Solar Power System. Switching over to the electric power system drops maximum speed to 155 MPH, Flying in broad daylight, mostly unobstructed sunlight gives the batteries an 6-hour charge; cloudy and overcast days cut available power to 2 hours.
Cost: 500,000 credits

*Reinforced Crew Compartment---A special megadamage fabric and composite ‘cage’ is added to reinforce the cockpit(50 MDC). This affords the pilot and copilot some scant extra protection, but don’t go teasing SAMAS or gargoyles, thinking this will protect you for long!
Cost: 90,000 credits

*Additional Armor----Additional composite armor can be added to reinforce the airframe and fuselage; this is more expensive than adding the equivalent amount of MDC protection to a ground vehicle, because of the lighter, and more advanced, aviation-grade megadamage armor, but travellers swear by the added protection.
Cost: 25,000 credits per 10 MDC(up to an extra 180 MDC)*
*Note: Being a specialist-producer of MDC materials, PS charges rather less for MDC material than the going market rate.
Penalties: Adds 100 lbs per 20 MDC, and armoring over 100 MDC reduces overall speed by 20%

*Flare/Chaff Launchers(1-4)
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 12 per launcher
Cost: 3,000 credits per launcher;additional flare/chaff bundles cost 200 credits each

*Weapons Turrets(1-4)----Up to four megatranspex powered gun turrets can be added to the Vanstar....one dorsal behind the cockpit, another in the tail, and two waist gun positions, Each turret has 50 MDC, and can hold a rail gun or two rifle-sized weapons(typically synched to fire simultaneously)
Cost: 20,000 credits

*Weapons Hardpoints(2)---Two hardpoints can be mounted on the underside of the enlarged wing, inboard of the engine nacelles.
Cost: 5,000 Credits for two hardpints(fitted as a pair to balance the aircraft)
Each hardpoint can hold the following:
a) Cargo Pod---Each pod can hold 750 lbs of additional gear
b) Cropsprayer Pod---Holds up to 200 gallons of chemicals or water, and dispenses(depending on wind conditions, speed, and direction) a swath of aerosol or rain 10-25 ft wide and up to a mile long. Effects vary by substances dispensed.
c) Mini-Missile Pod---1x20 per Hardpoint
d) Short Range Missiles---1x10 per Hardpoint
e) Medium Range Missiles-One per hardpoint
f) Gunpod
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 4d4 MD single shot (2 ft blast radius)
1d4x10 MD per 5 rd burst (2.5 feet blast radius)
2d4x10 MD(3 feet blast radius) per 10 rd burst(but -1 to strike)
4d6x10 MD(6 feet blast radius) for a 40 rd burst ( -2 to strike)
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 460 rd drum
Cost: 60,000 credits

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel PSM811 ‘Gunther’ 52mm Infantry Mortar
(Aka ‘Baby Ruth’, ‘Baby Bertha’)

“Yaaahhhoooo!!!! We got those bastards on the run now!!!!”
Lieutenant Malcolm wasn’t as vocal as his sargeant, but he shared the sub-officer’s enthusiasm. Four years too long the kingdom of Kingsdale had been a thorn in the side of the mighty Coalition, thanks to constant infusions of war material and ‘advisors’ that the digger-lovers’ allies had managed to sneak in on a regular basis, despite the Coalition’s best efforts. What should have been a one-week steamroller campaign had turned into a five-year guerilla seige more bitterly fought than Tolkeen, with over a thousand Coalition casualties and millions in equipment losses. Now they were finally getting some serious payback as their two-thousand-strong brigade had managed to corner a two-hundred man ‘advisor’ group, known to actually be a company of Vermont Free State light infantry. Cut off from a clear line of retreat to the fortifications of Kingsdale, with only light weapons, the ‘advisors’ had taken to ducking and scurrying pell-mell in their panic...that much was evident from the aerial recon footage. Despite the Easterners’ blurr-camouflage, it was pretty obvious they were outgunned, outnumbered, and outclassed.
It was now only a matter of time as the regiment’s heavy armor and support vehicles raced up to join Malcolm’s forward line, and their encirclement would be complete. The ‘advisors’” light weapons would be no match for the Coalition’s heavy guns....
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!!! Who’s dead now you cessspawn Verms! !!!! Goddamn d-bee blowin’ grubbers going to PAY for my boys!!!!”
The sargeant was still screaming obscenities at the near hills and the distant specks of circling SAMAS units when suddenly the hills seemed to grow white fingers that swirled and spun to catch the SAMAS. Distant flashes and subdued thunder, and Malcolm could see that many of his forward air screen were no longer there. He could also hear the expected calls for counter battery fire to nail the missile batteries the Verms had apparently been holding out on for a last counterattack. But even the turrets and launch boxes on the approaching armored vehicles swivelled to bear, the ground suddenly seemed to open up.
Malcolm watched with horror as the regiment’s armor dove into the ground like diving porpoises, saw sheets of flame burst up from some of the holes in the ground to incinerate toppling robots, and gaped as artillery fire screamed off into the air, missiles volleyed and spun into the sky. Most of the missiles were still safe-armed and fell harmlessly to the ground, but some of the artillery fire chewed into nearby vehicles, scattering hot shrapnel among the Coalition troops. Screams and cries for help echoed over the comnet.
Then, the ground seemed to belch and smooth over like a trampoline, and the vehicles popped up to the ground-level, in shambles and disorganized , but otherwise intact. For a moment Malcolm had cause to hope: clearly whatever trick the Verms had pulled, it was a brief one...not that it hadn’t done damage, but not enough to spare them the full wrath of the Regiment. They couldn’t have too many more of those tricks....missiles or boobytraps...up their sleeves...
Just then the ground and sky began to explode again, and Malcolm dove for cover as what looked like ARTILLERY began to rain down among the disorganized Coalition soldiers. Dirt fountained, shrapnel screamed, fire belched, and men and machines crumbled and died...
Malcolm ate dirt as hot metal sleeted over him.....the artillery..it had to be artillery...kept coming in, but from where!? Aerial recon had been certain that the ‘advisors’ were alone...there couldn’t have been another unit out there! Had the Kingsdalers been hiding an artillery battery under cover? Another thought occured to him as he crouched in his ditch...had the ‘light infantry’ been a TRAP to lure the Regiment into range of this barrage?
Malcolm could only guess and pray as he waited for the barrage to abate. Beside him, the headless body of his sargeant lay stretched out , his verbousity forever stilled....Their ‘entrappment’, whether it succeeded or failed this day, had just gotten a lot more costly.....

“Damn all, here we had them in the bag when all of a sudden all the ground between us front-liners and our advancing armor support suddenly opens up in pits and lava pools! Then after we lose half our vehicles and the other half are milling around, the ground closes up again, and suddenly we got shells dropping all around us! We don’t see ANY heavy artillery on air recon...only light infantry scurrying with those damn blurr-camos of theirs, but the shells keep dropping on us!!!! Our counter-battery fire’s doing jack, ‘cause the weegers are moving faster after each shot than we can track them!!!! Those pack-mortars of theirs just cut our force in HALF in a matter of minutes!!! Then, though we didn’t know it at the time, they fired those damn sensor decoys over our heads, and those golems in a can...so it suddenly looks like we’ve been flanked by a new force of partisans!!!! By the time we finish sorting ourselves out, they’ve boogied across the river and out of sight!!! If we’d known that those ‘light infantry’ and ‘advisors’ were packing portable artillery, we’d have sent in the SAMAS and the bombers and raized that forest and everything in it before we got within a mile of it!!!”
-Major Abigail Valens, Coalition States Army, 17th Regiment, Missouri Sector, in her after-action report of the ‘Ridge 108 Massacre’

“Wanna see something creepy? Watch a battery of five or six of these things slaved in auto-fire to some distant observer with a directional transmitter or a secured land-line...the darn things adjust their own angling...crew’s just there to keep stuffing shells down the guns’ throats.... hungry little war gods,.... and off in the distance you can hear thunder where those shells are dropping in on someone and putting them in a world of hurt...”
----Pvt Frank Orde, Vermont Free State Regular Army

The PSM811 is another new weapon that emerged from the Shootout ‘08 Show. The ‘Gunther’ is a lightweight backpack mortar that can be ‘ported, set up, and operated by one man(though it’s usually served by a three man crew; one gunner, and two loaders/spotters). The weapon was developed in response to a call by the VFS RA Command Staff for a lightweight weapon that would allow for indirect ‘plunging’ fire, allowing the gun crew to remain behind cover, rather than silhoutted on a ridge(as was the case with most mini-missile weapons, which required line-of-sight for maximum effectiveness in war games in hilly New England). Another requirement was that it be more portable than the PS-CM22, whose heavy infantry weapon form was being considered for the Standard Team Heavy Weapon(STHW) of the Vermont Free State Regular Army(the Command Staff wanted a comparable weapon design for performance comparison and competition).
The PSM811 consists of a single tube, hinged base-plate, sturdy rectangular platic casing around the barrel(holding the ranging electronics and servicing tools) and a servo-actuated bipod. The entire assembly folds up conveniently for backpack transport.
The PSM811 uses propulsion technology known pre-Rifts as ‘Jet Shot’; the technology and barrel design having been acquired in trade from Europe(New Roman Republic). The PSM811 is based, in fact, on the pre-Rifts FLY-K PRB Mortar, but uses lighter synthetic materials for the barrel, fires megadamage shells, and adds a more sophisticated fire control sysem.
Thanks to the high pressure, low-temperature propulsive charge technology of the ‘Jet Shot’, the ‘Gunther’ produces very little noise, little in the way of emission gases, and no telltale flash. Combined with the special barrel materials and outer casing, the mortar does not heat up, allowing for a greatly reduced thermal/infrared signature(-25% to Read Sensory Instrument rolls when attempting to find this thing by its thermal-signature), especially important for covert or nighttime fire missions.
The ‘Gunther’ can be automatically set to adjust fire through a plug-in datajack that receieves ranging information from a handheld ballistics fire-control computer, or a battlefield datanet combat link(relaying information from forward spotters and translating it directly to adjustments on the weapon), with the auto-actuators in the mortar pack automatically adjusting. Of course, in event of auto-link failure, or the absence of such an amenity, the mortar can be manually adjusted with the dial controls.
Like many of the other Shootout ‘08 designs, the ‘Gunther’ is criticized for being dependant on specialized munitions that would be readily available only to GNE forces or near the GNE nations. This may reduce its usefulness and attraction, at least initially, with mercenary and adventurer groups, until PS-style ammunition becomes more common and available.
The tag ‘Gunther’ cames from Pvt. Gunther Harris, a Vermont Free State militiaman who was manning a forward security bunker outside a disputed community in the Seaway Zone with Free Quebec, and in the conflict zone between Free Quebec, the CS, and the VFS, when a Coalition battalion tried to seize the township. Cut off from retreat, crippled and trapped when the roof of his bunker fell on top of him, Pvt. Harris was nevertheless in a position to sight the the Coalition force’s line of advance just below his post. Knowing that the CS ground force was effectively bottlenecked while passing through his position, and that any artillery strike at that time stood a good chance of killing him as well as the Coalition troops, Harris nevertheless unflinchingly called in the coordinates and directed artillery fire from his company’s Tengu support batteries. The resulting barrage broke the Coalition advance and stopped it, but also killed Pvt. Gunther Harris. In recognition of his bravery, the new field artillery was initially named the ‘Harris Mortar’, but his colleagues insisted on calling it the ‘Gunther’ instead, a practice that was respected and accepted by the Vermont military.
Date of Introduction: 108 PA
Weight: 15 lbs
Range: 6,500 ft (over a mile!)
Damage: (PSX-II High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 20 ft blast radius. Cost per shell: 800 credits
(Fragmentation) 6d6 MD to 50 ft blast radius. Cost per shell: 600 credits
(Incendiary) 4d6 MD to 30 ft blast radius, does an additional 1d4 MD for 1d6 melees, plus 80% chance of setting combustible materials aflame. Cost per shell: 700 credits
(Armor-Piercing Self-Forging)----This is a new experimental special shell that contains a micro-sensor and dual-charge system. The disc-shaped warhead is ‘frisbeed’ to high altitude(800 ft), then scans for target-profiles with its micro-sensor. When it spots a likely target profile(thermal or optical outline)(the limited size and complexity of the micro-sensor severely limits its targeting ability to a total of 6 targets...fortunately, the profile-database can be changed easily enough by inserting a new chip into the fusing assembly before loading), the warhead fires downwards, the material of the ‘discus’ deforming into a narrow, pointed, high-penetration needle well-suited for penetrating armor. Does 3d6x10 MD; no blast radius.
Note: This munition does NOT suffer from the indirect fire penalty; roll to strike as normal, but without bonuses. PS is working on a micro-guidance system that would allow these munnitions to home in on laser-’painted’ targets, as via a forward observer....as well as better target discrimination(the current model has a tendancy to be distracted by flaming wrecks in the vicinity of the ‘live’ target. Cost per shell: 4,000 credits
(Plasma) 2d6x10 MD to 10 ft blast radius. Cost per shell: 3,000 credits
(Smoke/Chemical) Varies by chemical type. Typically covers a 20 ft area. Basic smoke shells cost 100 credits apiece
(Illumination) Fires a high altitude illumination flare that burns blightly for. The flare also has a 40% chance of decoying/confusing heat-seeking sensors/weapons systems. Cost per shell: 500 credits
(Sensor Decoys) The mortar can also fire special lightweight thermal-emission decoys for confusing sensors into thinking there are ground troops where there are none....To further the confusion, the spheroid decoy will randomly extend springloaded ‘legs’ that move the decoy about in 5-10 ft leaps, giving the impression of moving troops. Internal mini-batteries last for 30 minutes. A small acid-capsule or self-destruct anti-tampering charge may also be attached to prevent the decoy from falling into enemy hands. Cost per shell: 700 credits
Noisemaker decoys are similar, but they emitt random amplified ‘soldier noises’...footfalls, clinking of weapons, gunshots, muffled voices, etc., but are otherwise similar to the thermal-decoys. Cost per shell: 400 credits

TW Warheads
One of Paladin Steel West’s refinements to TW armaments was the use of specially-treated cracked crystal quartz and quartzite in expendable TW munitions. The ability of to use lower-quality flawed crystalline materials meant that self-destructing ‘one-shot’ TW weapons could be produced much more cheaply, and thus in bulk, while reserving higher-quality materials for superior TW creations.

(TW Sandstorm)-----Creates a sudden sandstorm that lasts 5 minutes, covering a 100 ft area. People trapped inside it will find visibility cut down to 3 ft, hearing is reduced by HALF, speed by 75%, lose initiative, 2 APM, and -5 strike, parry, and dodge. The scouring sand does 1d4 SDC per melee. Even robot vehicles will find their sensors, including radar, bolluxed by the flying grit. Cost per shell: 4,000 credits
(TW Chasm)---Opens up a chasm 160 ft long, by 80 ft wide, by 80 ft deep, that remains open for up to 40 minutes. Objects falling in take 2d6 SDC per every 20 ft of depth. At the end of the spell, the chasm belches everything up to the surface as if they’d never fallen(in other words, they don’t get crushed by the closing fissure). CANNOT be used against buildings. Cost per shell: 7,000 credits
(TW Lava Pool)----Creates a pool or lane of lava 60 ft long. 10 ft wide, 10 ft deep. Objects caught in this pool take 2d6x10 MD per melee. Cost per shell: 9,000 credits
(TW Air Burst)---Sets loose a Whirlwind that does 2d6+2 MD to everything caught up in its 20 ft wide funnel. The Whirlwind tracks randomly about a 300 ft area for 2d4 melees before disipating. Cost per shell: 8,000 credits
(TW Storm Shell)---Essentially a longer-ranged version of the TW anti-vampireStormflare. Effects are the same.Cost per shell: 3,000 credits
(TW SunBomb)---A more powerful version of the Globe of Daylight Flare, only this version is powerful enough to inflict flashburns on vampires! Does 6d6 HP per melee for 3d6 melees to a 50 ft radius. Cost per shell: 2,000 credits


Rate of Fire: 1 shot per melee. A well-trained/coordinated fireteam(2 members with at least 3rd level W.P. Heavy Weapons), can load and fire 2 shells per melee.
Payload: One
Bonuses/Penalties:(Optional)(Rifts South America 2 has no rules for the Arkhon’s Mortar Packs’ inaccuracy, but for diehard artillery buffs, figure on 50% chance of hitting moving targets, 75% chance of hitting stationary targets withing 2,200 ft range, or 50% chance out beyond that. 50% of shells will fall within a ‘footprint’ or ‘box’ 131 ft long by 70 ft wide.
Using a PS ‘Battleman’ battle remote computer and fire control linkage will give a +10% to hit probability, and having a forward observer with direct line of sight on the target will give another +10%
Special Features: *Compact, rugged, folding construction
*E-Porting for direct computer/interface control
Cost: 50,000 credits

[Aramanthus]

Very nice! I think those are some awesome additions to Paladin Steel materials. I know we'll be purchasing several of the new iteas in the store front.

[taalismn]

And remember to buy ammunition in bulk...

[Aramanthus]

The Federated States always makes sure to purchase a lot of ammo. I'm looking forward to seeing more material. I bet there is going to be a lot over the weekend I'm isolated from the web.

[taalismn]

Ill see what I can do.

[abe]

how about some magic candy based upon enchant candy of some sort?

[taalismn]

how about some magic candy based upon enchant candy of some sort?

I'll see what our under-utilized magic division can do, but they're mainly into techno-wizardrym and the creation of Multiplexor systems, industrial magic, and new materials/materials enhancements like ecto-fiber, artificial PPE matrix crystal, and mage-steel.

[abtex]

I'll see what our under-utilized magic division can do, but they're mainly into techno-wizardrym and the creation of Multiplexor systems, industrial magic, and new materials/materials enhancements like ecto-fiber, artificial PPE matrix crystal, and mage-steel.

Those poor WageSlaves are working on many things to use the following? Right?

TW Warheads
One of Paladin Steel West’s refinements to TW armaments was the use of specially-treated cracked crystal quartz and quartzite in expendable TW munitions. The ability of to use lower-quality flawed crystalline materials meant that self-destructing ‘one-shot’ TW weapons could be produced much more cheaply, and thus in bulk, while reserving higher-quality materials for superior TW creations.

[taalismn]

I'll see what our under-utilized magic division can do, but they're mainly into techno-wizardrym and the creation of Multiplexor systems, industrial magic, and new materials/materials enhancements like ecto-fiber, artificial PPE matrix crystal, and mage-steel.

Those poor WageSlaves are working on many things to use the following? Right?

TW Warheads
One of Paladin Steel West’s refinements to TW armaments was the use of specially-treated cracked crystal quartz and quartzite in expendable TW munitions. The ability of to use lower-quality flawed crystalline materials meant that self-destructing ‘one-shot’ TW weapons could be produced much more cheaply, and thus in bulk, while reserving higher-quality materials for superior TW creations.

Yep...kinda hard to mix PPE-imbued quartz into taffy and still have a consumable product, but we might try something with a magically enhanced taffy-puller machine...Or try consulting the Rifter article on Magical Cooking; having a specialty in 'confections' might yield up a magic candy-making chef, and there are some Ludicrous Mage spells that are certainly applicable...
For the foreseeable future, magic candies might make for a good shop or two-three doing business inside the borders of the GNE...With the magic-tolerant society of the GNE/PS, such shops, if they could recruit the talent and do well, might well expand within GNE borders and communities, and their products might find their way into PS lunchrooms and maybe into showroom waiting rooms as part of the offered snacks, especially if they had benign effects(because nobody's going to buy from you if that breathmint they just ate turns them green or makes their voice go falsetto...).

[abtex]

Candy is Dandy.
But I was thinking more on the lines of Land Mines, Warheads, Grenades, Oversized shotgun shells (or recoilless rifle ones) Bomblets, and such.

[taalismn]

Candy is Dandy.
But I was thinking more on the lines of Land Mines, Warheads, Grenades, Oversized shotgun shells (or recoilless rifle ones) Bomblets, and such.

Oh sure, there are a variety of TW munitions out there in Internet land...PS can't reverse engineer all of them though, due to copyrights(we cheerfully steal ideas from Northern Gun, the CS, Triax, and the Kittani, though none of them are particularly known for their magic munitions)..>However, many of them can be found in GNE arms markets and adjacent shops to our outlets; we just can't advertize them in our catalogues...We're particularly proud of our small lines of TW munitions and have been trying to scale them down for more limited tactical applications...though there are some ideas whose ethical ramifications we're still trying to argue out...The Carpet of Adhesion-equipped thermite mine for instance...But our Hushie grenades have been generally well received...We're also looking at some promising Ludicrous Mage munitions that promise to have good ground control and police applications....
Never fear, we are looking at TW munitions seriously, and hope to expand our product lines in the near future accordingly as time and resources allow, and the market dictates...

[taalismn]

All of a sudden I'm imagining walking, running and even flying smart mines...

Naruni produces their own line(ironically, many are similar to several similar weapons in PB's original Mechanoids books)...PS could develop similar systems using different configurations...maybe a 'spider mine' that follows tanks....

[taalismn]

Skinsuits
(Aka ‘slicks’, ‘sleekies’, ‘slinksuit’)

“Does this make me look fat?”
---Anonymous((and commonplace) comment frequently overheard at Skinsuit fitting rooms.

“If you need any more proof that GNE is run by human health fascists, look at all the advertising done for Skinsuits...all those lean, buff, human bodies in a coat of plastic film dancing around....read between the lines, you zombies!..they’re saying no fat, out of shape, ugly non-humans need apply!”
“Ah, you musta missed the spots with the dwarf weightlifter, the fat exec, and the Rahuman, then...the message was comfort, protection, and custom-fit...and none of my non-human friends think they’re being discriminated against...especially after the first model to wear the new Arachsteel III ‘suit, was a Vernulian!”
----Overheard on WTOP’s morning radio program, “Living with Tom Wiz”

*BAM*
“OH MY GOD THEY KILLED KENNY!!!!”
“Hey! Don’t worry! He’s okay! See? He’s got his skinsuit on under his jacket! Slug hardly touched him, ain’t that right, Kenny? Now if that shot had hit him in the head...”
*BAM*
“Sick bastard’s either got a heckuva scope, or a parabolic microphone...”
(Apologies to South Park---like you couldn’t see it coming?)

(‘Skinsuits’ have become a staple of anime and superhero genres, and cover a range of functional garments...ultra-tight-fit, looks-like-they’re-sprayed-on, bodysuits that superheroes and high-tech soldiers alike don in the course of their work....For the most part, these suits are the equivalent of long-johns; warm undergarments, but not bulky and prone to catch on sharp surfaces. They can also serve as pressure-girdles, as with an astronaut’s undersuit garment, or body-shapers for the body-conscious. Of course, the Olympics have cast the skinsuit in a whole new light as a way of improving on the inelegant human body in swimming events. More recently, skinsuits serve as command interfaces for robots, power armors, and remote control systems...The CAN Republic’s VRRDS is a prime example...
Of course, skinsuits also serve to accentuate eye-candy, if the skin they’re on is the right shape..and sometimes Style really DOES matter more than Substance if used wisely and at the right time...)


"Bodyweb" Skinsuit: Designed originally as a somatic interface for power armor and as the inner integral pressure-lining ‘body glove’ of EBA, the ‘Skinsuit’ has since become one of the more common products and symbols of the growth and affluence of the GNE alliance. However, the suit is hardly a new concept, and comparable technologies exist, to lesser or greater(and expensive/less expensive) degree among the other high-tech nations of Rifts Earth and the Three Galaxies.
The basic Skinsuit is a skintight suit covering the body from neck to toes, including the hands. It is made of a lightweight M.D.C. material (10 M.D.C.), developed by Paladin Steel's plastics engineers. The conformal ‘bodystocking’ provided an added degree of protection against penetrating shrapnel, skin-contact toxins, corrosives, burns, as well as some insulation against environmental extremes. The light plastic fabric was also quite comfortable, being ‘breathable’ under normal conditions, passing out sweat without compromising environmental protection, and providing added muscle support(female wearers have compared it to a ‘full-body sports bra’, but many men prefer to add a kevlar groin-cup or armored athletic supporter when wearing these suits). The materials used in the Series-1 Skinsuit marked a breakthrough for PS’s materials division, who had previously dealt with only plate and ceramic armor types.
The original ‘suit was intended as a pilot interface device, incorporating a tracery web of sensors which pick up the motions of the wearer’s muscles and translate them to the artificial muscles in the armor being worn. Combined with the linear truss biofeedback ‘tensors’ that translate pressure picked up by surface sensors in the armor into reciprocal pressure on the appropriate parts of the operator’s body, these sensors contributed to the dramatic agility and responsiveness of the more human-configured power armors(such aas the Triax Hopper). This sensor interface was later adapted to other machines as well, such as the Paladin Steel knockoffs of Kittani power armors and robots, which used more elaborate control interfaces.
However, the Skinsuit soon caught on outside the power armor corps...pilots found the suits lightweight, comfortable, and decidedly stylish...the suits could be worn under street clothing as well, providing them with undercover protection. This caught the eye of the security forces, who demanded suits of their own. Before long, the Skinsuit had become something of an unofficial ‘casual uniform’ of the GNE forces, even before the formal organization of the VFS and CoM.
And when Skinsuits began showing up on the Black Market commanding high prices for sale to security- and style-conscious civilians, PS knew it had to do something. They went open market.
Today Skinsuits are an extremely common sight in and around the nations of Greater New England( in some countries it’s practically a necessary fashion accessory for the protection-conscious, and almost as ubiquitious as business suits and jeans), and has inspired spin-off megadamage leotards, scuba-suits, survival gear, and other versions. Despite howls from some quarters that the skintight outfits are encouragements of ‘fitness fascism’, in reference to the fitness regimen practiced by most Power Armor pilots(to better fit inside their armor), current Skinsuit production and design accomodates all manner of physical builds. Many people just feel that having an extra layer of MDC protection is a good thing in these violent times, even if they may never (hopefully) be in a position to need it. Most wearers of Skinsuits wear them under clothing, or incorporated as part of a worksuit, body armor, or uniform.
Of course, the most obvious use of Skinsuits is by those people who don’t mind showing off some bodyform in the skintight outfits, or customizing the ‘suits to sometimes outrageous lengths. This has wrongly led to the assumption by many visitors to the GNE nations that Skinsuits are a fad of the ‘beautiful people’.....though PS does admitt with unabashed commercialism, that such a fad has been a most profitable one for them.
The proliferation of Skinsuits hasn’t been without its problems of course...one of the biggest being the increase in crime by teenagers and bandits who can shrug off bullets , knives, and light megadamage blasts, greatly complicating defensive measures, and law enforcement actions....despite accusations to the contrary, police do NOT like making headshots on Skinsuit-clad culprits. Fortunately, Skinsuits do not confer the same protection as stiffer suits of armor protection(see below).
Skinsuits are manufactured in the GNE by Paladin Steel. Suits(most notably the Arachsteel IV material) are also produced offworld by PS at its various orbital factories.
However, similar outfits are also produced by Triax, the Republic of Japan, the Australian city-states, the Silver River Republics, and the Orbitals, with MDC values, cost, and features varying in price and proportion as much as 50% in either direction.

The standard ‘orginal’ Skinsuit has 10 MDC, is toxin- and chemical-resistant, can stop sharp, penetrating attacks from knives and sharp objects, provides some protection from energy weapons, and can handle temperature extremes of up to 300 degrees Centigrade
Blunt force, electrical, and sonic attacks on Skinsuits do HALF damage to the wearer through the fabric. Energy-based Stun weapons will also do HALF damage. Standard Skinsuit Armor is NOT EBA...unless the wearer has a helmet with air supply, or gas mask, they can still be taken down by aerosol or airborne chemicals/biologicals.
In 109 PA, Paladin Steel unveiled the Arachsteel IV-material skinsuit, which has 16 MDC as standard, without sacrifing flexibility, weight, or comfort. Though the price is roughly 30% over that of the original Skinsuit, industry experts expect the cost to go down, as PS streamlines the production of the new materials.

Skinsuits can be purchased in one of two ways, ‘custom fit’ or ‘off-the-Rack’.
‘Custom fit’ conformally fits the suit to the individual wearer...requiring a quick walk nude(or nearly so) through a full-body laser-measurement booth, then having the suit made on the spot(with any customizations being added at the time) on a body-frame. Custom-fit suits fit the most comfortably, and most ‘suits have some allowance for weight gain and growth. Custom-fits are the standard-issue for power armor-pilots, as the skin-fit is best suited for the somatic interface sensors, but they are also the preferred style by wealthier private customers as well, as the suits tend not to create telltale bulges and bagging visible under regular clothing.
‘Off-the-Rack’(OtR) suits incorporate highly elastic strips and limb gathers, that allow the suit to be worn by a variety of persons. OtR suits have the advantage of low cost and being mass-produced, but are ill-suited for use as pilot-interfaces(they tend to become baggy or thick-jointed on smaller people, or burst-tight on larger people), and buyers often cannot get the suits customized.
Currently PS is looking at more elastic ‘zip-fit’ materials and fitting designs, to combine the best aspects of both types in one suit, but this technology is still several years away from reaching the commercial market.

Note: ALL Skinsuits have NO Prowl or physical activity penalties...with the exception of the VBA-UC-1S ‘Samurai’ ovelayering suit.

The original Pattern 1 Skinsuit costs 12,000-20,000 credits, depending on minor
M.D.C. modifications (up to 8 more points of M.D.C. can be added) and
cosmetic alterations (designer colors, holo-logos, etc.). It can be distinguished by either interface plugs or contact strips at the wrists, ankles, and neck.
Arachsteel IV Pattern II Skinsuits, with 16 MDC, currently cost 25,000 credits, and can have up to 10 more points of MDC added.
The standard ‘Civilian’ Skinsuit, lacking sensors, costs about 8,000-10,000 credits. Custom-fit suits typically cost 10-15% more, while Off-the-Rack ‘suits cost 10-20% less.

VBA-UC-1---Official military industrial designation for Paladin Steel ‘Skinsuit’ light armor---classified as an ‘Under Clothing’ type to denote its close fit and easy concealability. This light armor sees considerable use throughout both the civilian and military sectors of the VFS.

VBA-UC-1S----The new space-adapted, full EBA version of the Skinsuit, with pressure-girdle lining, boots and gloves, 4 hour air supply, life-support hookups, added radiation-insulation, butt-pack ‘magradshield’ (a light electromagnetic forcefield that is used to insulate against radiation---not powerful enough to deflect ion and particle beam streams, but strong enough to deflect cosmic rays---e-clip powered and good for 6 hours of continous operation), and triple-layered ‘crystal ball’ helmet with liquid-crystal polarization and HUD. Often worn under a partial ‘Huntsman’ suit ( VA-H-SA-EVA) of armored vest, extended life support/MMU pack, gauntlets, and boots, or as a liner/pressure garment under a full-body multi-piece suit of machined megadamage tungsten-alloy( Main Body MDC 120, lasers do HALF damage, weight 21 lbs, -18% to prowl), nicknamed ‘Space Samurai’ from its resemblance (complete with mask!) to ancient samurai armor. Space armor types are rarely ever seen on Earth, as many people complain that the heavy applique armor pieces make a tremendous amount of noise when moving about---compared to walking about with all one’s kitchenware strapped to oneself.
A basic suit of VBA-UC-1S costs 26,000 credits(10,000 credits in the Three Galaxies), while the ‘Samurai Suit’ costs an additional 20,000 credits

VBA-UC-1(TW)---’Ectoskin’----This is an experimental new Skinsuit using the new stabilized ectoplasm ‘ectofiber’. ‘Ectofiber’ is an extremely fine, quasi-material that has proven extremely useful in applications ranging from PPE transmission cabling and TW cybernetics, to psi-web antennae and ‘spirit-comps’. It can also be used as an effective insulator against magic attacks as well.
Ectoskin Skinsuits are exceptionally light and thin(one can crumple up a suit into the palm of one hand) but are limited in MDC from 10 MDC to 20 maximum. Magical energy attacks to Ectoskin are reduced in damage by 1/3, and the wearer gets to save +1 versus magic. Psionic attacks are unaffected.
TW modifications of an Ectoskin suit actually cost 1/3 LESS in terms of PPE costs, due to the special properties of the material.
Cost: 35,000 credits for basic suit, plus 800 credits per additional point of MDC added. Rarely available.

VUBA-01------This is simply the Black Market LEWS-9 Light Environmental Wet Suit, knocked off and slightly modified by PS. It’s classed as a Skinsuit because of its design...the basic jumpsuit can be worn under baggy clothing without the air tanks, boots, or helmet, though the insulated fabric is far thicker than Skinsuit film. Sold to both the commercial and military markets.
Cost: 15,000 credits

VUBA-01a---A modification of the VUBA-01, with special fitting streamlined ‘sharkscale’ surfacing...this adds 10% to the wearer’s Swimming speed.
Cost: +10% to basic suit cost for material overlay and fitting.

VUBA-02---This is a new experimental skinsuit designed with underwater operations in mind...the suit has deployable ‘angel wings’ on the back, ribcage, and legs...actually special bio-plastic ‘gills’ developed by Paladin Steel, that allow the wearer to stay underwater nearly indefinitely, breathing gases diffused from the water, proccessed through a bubble-free rebreather. The ‘gills’ quickly fold-up into special seams and pockets when not in use. Note: Gilll-plastic is still vulnerable to pollution and such chemicals as Kittani gill-clog grenades.
Cost: Currently 35,000 credits...still considered experimental.

Customizations Available for the Skinsuit
Besides the TW modifications available to armor, here are a few additional perks available to Skinsuits

*Customized designs, logos, etc...Impregnated into the plastic at the time of creation, or later through a partial re-mend, this can add anything from simple logos, to full-body paintings.
Cost: Depending on the extent of the pattern, such art can cost 5-500 credits. Having the patterns changed or added to an already made suit will add 50% to the cost of the addition.

*Light Pads----Fits the Skinsuit wih special fluorescent panels, bright enough to read by, for either utility or presentation purposes.
Cost: Depending on the extent of the pattern, this can cost 10 credits for a simple hand pad, to 400 credits for a full body light show.

*Hologram Imprint---Adds a video-’window’ or ‘moving picture’ to the Skinsuit. Giving a logo false animation through changing perspective adds 50% to the cost of the original logo. Adding an actual video flatscreen(running off a swappable micro-chip) costs 400 credits, to 1,000 credits for full body, 500-1,500 credits for true ‘TV body’.
A variation on this, is the integral ‘touchscreen’ for built-in microcomputers....an added layer of conformal ‘soft-touch’ material allows the wearer to manifest an interactive flatscreen on a limb or chest(Note: this CANNOT be added to pilot-interface suits, which are already heavily modified with interface gear). This option has become quite popular with computer geeks and musicians(who ‘play their bodies’) especially in the cyberfad-obsessed Republic of Japan.
Cost: A ‘body comp’ or ‘body synth’ can cost anywhere from 1,000-12,000 credits , depending on the complexity and features of the systems.

*Transparency----For those who really want to show themselves off for whatever reason, this special option is expensive(especially for pilot-interface suits), but renders the megadamage fabric transparent or translucent. Other additional options to this allow the wearer to ‘dial’ the opacity of the fabric, from concealing opacity, to total transparency. Selective Transparency takes this further, allowing the wearer to select which portions of the suit to blank or transparent, with a swipe of the hand, or a predetermined pattern. Most serious users regard this option as ridiculous, comparing it to’ going into battle naked, wearing a plastic Ziploc baggie’, but some wearers love the shock/flaunt-value.
Cost: Adds 30% to cost for basic transparency, 50% for selective transparency, and 70% for segmental transparency .

*Shock Resistance---Available ONLY to military and police registered Skinsuits, this incorporates special strips of superconductor that disipate shock weapons and energy-stun weaponry, negating the HALF-damage penalty noted above.
Cost: 10,000 credits

*Laser Resistance---Special reflective foil coating and superconductive fibers mean that lasers do HALF damage to this suit....And it looks really cool too, a skintight metallic lame. CANNOT be combined with Transparency or Thermal Stealth, though Illumin Pads may be added on top of it.
Cost: 30,000 credits

*Thermal-Stealth---Breaks up the Infrared/Thermographic signature of the wearer. Available ONLY to military and police registered Skinsuits. Infrared and Thermographic sensors are -20% to detect the ‘suit.
Cost: 10,000 credits

*Grease-Sheen---This feature bonds a low-friction outer laminate to the outside of the suit that has a (near)permanent oily sheen and extremely slippery feel to it, like graphite. This allows the wearer to easily slip through tight opennings(+5% to Spelunking and Escape Artist if trying to escape bonds tied over the suit) and opponents will have a hard time holding onto the suit(+1 to Dodge and +2 Break Holds). Because the coating does erode(typically only lasts through about 5 days of hard use) it must be periodically sprayed with a refinishing treatment. The Chinese Geofront light bodysuits used by spelunking teams often have this feature to better slip through tight caverns.
Cost: 7,000 credits+800 credits per ‘refinishing’ treatment

*Kinetic Gel Padding---An attempt to correct the weakness of Skinsuits against blunt force trauma, this feature adds a layer of ‘smart’ kinetic-sensitive gel to the suit, plus artificial myomer strands. When being hit by something, such a club or wall, the gel goes from a fluid state to a thick state, cushioning the impact, disipating impact energy, and swelling up to protect critical portions of the anatomy, such as the neck, elbows, knees, and pelvis. Kinetic Gel Padding gives a +2 to Roll with Punch, Fall, or Impact, and reduces damage from SDC-attacks by 75%. Very popular with motocross racers and combat athletes. Can be combined with other mod-types.
Cost: 9,000 credits

EVAC Armor

“Okay? Everyone ready? Remember... just follow us, single file, walk don’t run, and keep moving right down the line....once we’re clear, the Roscos will be waiting for us...Now, GO!”

Emergency EVAC Armor is a concept dating back to the Golden Age as one of the more peaceful uses of the new megadamage technology....in response to the multiple threats of the technological age. Though megadamage weaponry, robots, power armor, and personal armor, rendered the peacekeepers of NEMA effectively invulnerable to all but the most massive conventional weapons strikes or tactial nuclear weapons, terrorists rarely targetted combat-ready military personnel as their victims of choice.
Even if terrorists elected not to directly attack the civilian population, there were still plenty of ways to launch INdirect attacks, using radiological, biolgical, and chemical weapons, or making assaults on facilities that would releash large amounts of same into populated areas.
EVAC Armor was developed by the North American Empire’s NASA agency originally as emergency spacesuits for decompression crisises on orbital craft, but NEMA further took the idea for groundside rescue. The suits are intended to provide temporary, closed-environment protection to civilians from radiation, fire, and chemicals, and for quick transfer from/through dangerous environments to more secure shelter and assistance. The suits would also provide light protection from megadamage weaponry, though environmental hazards were considered the primary threat. These suits could be stored in quantity at strategic locations(industrial plants, municipal centers, hospitals, etc.), periodically maintained, and distributed to civilians in temporary ‘safe zones’ in event of a crisis, donned, then used to move the endangered to safety. Acquired with the assistance of Homeland Security grants, these suits were supplied to many government offices, utilities, and large businesses during the Golden Age.
Ease of use was a primary consideration; the design had to be relatively inexpensive, simple to store and maintain, and be easy to don and wear by personnel with little experience with EBA.
EVAC armor looks crude and simplistic compared to the sculpted angles and deflecting curves of combat EBA...It’s not intended for long duration wear or battle maneuvers, but rather for quick-donning, simple operation, ease of maintenance, and quick movement. The basic suit looks like a set of thick overalls with boots and gloves, reinforced at the knees and elbows, with a back and breast plate and shoulder protection that looks like it was manufactured from squared-off sections of cardboard. The helmet looks crude and ugly... It’s a large squarish box of megadamage material, attached directly to the shoulders(no neck), with a wrap-around faceplate of armorplas in front. Inner inflatable pads serve to quickly fit the body armor to the wearer(the same pads incidentally also can serve as air splints to immobilize broken limbs and stabilize head and neck fractures for transport). A triple-seal ‘demon lock’ in the front of the helmet allows for the insertion of a drinking tube without breaching environmental integrity. Several connection points in the chest and back allow for service connections, such as medical monitoring probes and air hoses. The armor is brightly colored for quick identification and easy visibility.....some feature clip-on battery-powered shoulder blinkers and ID transponders to allow rescue teams to more easily find and track evacuees. The suits also tend to be naturally bouyant, for marine rescue.
Because civilians in a crisis situation can often incapacitate themselves and pose a danger to others through hysteria, EVAC armor includes several tie points on the arms, legs, and waist, allowing rescuers to quickly bind and immobilize convulsing, belligerent, or severely injured wearers (the latter requiring immobilization of limbs). Handle-ties and clip points on the waist, shoulders, and back allow handholds for rescue workers to grab and haul evacuees to safety, and attach hoist and safety lines.
Since the Coming of the Rifts, original pattern EVAC armor has continued in production(since many of the megadamage material plants that date back to the Golden Age originally received large contracts to mass produce the stuff), although its distribution is far smaller and more erratic than in the Golden Age, limited to a few high-tech kingdoms. As combat gear, EVAC armor is dismally inappropriate and ill-suited for combat, and has been superseded as the ‘light armor’ of production and consumer choice by more traditional suits such as fhe ‘Plasticman’ and ‘Crusader’. The Coalition produces its own, but severely restricts its sale and distribution to loyal CS residents inside its arcology-fortresses and to secured facilities such as Coalition high-tech factories. Lazlo and Paladin Steel produce suits of EVAC armor as part of their humanitarian aide programs, supplying them to relief agencies and municipal rescue teams as part of their SAR gear. The Australian city-states also have similar suits(patterned after the American models), where the resemblance between the squarish suits and a suit of plowshare-steel body armor worn by an iconic pre-Rifts Outback outlaw(Ned Kelly) have led to the suits being nicknamed ‘Neds’.
Weight: 16 lbs
MDC:
Head 15
Main Body 30
Arms 10 each
Legs: 15 each
Movement Penalties: -10% Prowl, and -15% to physical skills such as acrobatics, swimming, and gymnastics.
Cost: 11,000 credits
Notes:
*Can be donned in 1/2-1/4 the time as regular EBA
*Positive Bouyancy
*4-hour emergency air supply+ air filtration and external air supply hookups
*All other standard EBA features

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel PSLR-10 ‘Maximus’ Laser Rifle

“The Maximus? Damn fine weapon...nice balance, good feel, and all the features an infantryman likes in a weapon....Bet those FreeQuees across the ‘Lawrence are in for a surprise when they discover we’re all totin’ VeeFells(Variable Frequency Lasers) against all them bright shiny Glitterboys they like struttin’ in front of us!”
-----Debbie Rhodes, Vermont Free State Regular Army

“You see the funky grips here and _here_ on the barrel? And the heavy buttstock? Note the heavy-duty ceramet construction and the way the sighting module can slide forward from the back like so? You get a good solid hold on the forward parts of the rifle, it makes a damn fine bludgeon swung like so....That can’t be a coincidence, that’s damn fine design!”

The Maximus came out of a Paladin Steel initiative to create a new, distinctive, multipurpose laser rifle for the Vermont Free State military; one that would incorporate the best features of the prominent weapons of the time, such as the Wilks Pulse Rifles, JA-12 Juicer Laser Rifle, and the C-12 Heavy Assault Laser Rifle. The Maximus vaguely resembles the fictious “Phaser Rifle Type 3a” from the pre-Rifts ‘Star Trek’ media series; a sleek rifle with large, bullpup-configuration stock, black neo-rubber grips on the barrel, and a streamlined targetting sensor package mounted on top, but the business end and innards are pure Rifts Earth badness.
The Maximus takes advantage of new PS technologies acquired through trade alliances to produce a ‘dream gun’...the use of GMR-technology to create micro-gravity fields conducive to the production of cheaper, higher-quality lasing crystals, the use of PS superconductors for more efficient power storage and delivery, advanced composites for the weapon casing, a Japan-inspired targetting package, and advanced micro-chip micro-manager regulator systems, combine to produce a weapon with durability, multiple power levels, variable-frequency capabilities, and rapid-fire pulse features. However, this means, also, that the weapon is rather more expensive than the average single-shot, single-frequency NG weapon, Wilks rifle, or Triax laser, but PS/VFS is committed to making the Maximus its standard infantry weapon, based on the glowing reports of the field-testers. This, in itself, has resulted in howls from cost-conscious critics in the PS/VFS administration, who have derided the “and the kitchen sink” philosophy of the Maximus, in favor of cheaper, simpler, imports from the GNE’s allies or cheaper weapons already in production by PS(such as the Partisan laser rifle). The original target range requirement of four thousand feet(based on studies of the JA-12 Laser Rifle) had to be cut back, however, though the final one-thousand yard range for the weapon was judged more than adequate for most infantry combat.
The Maximus is expensive for a PS-made weapon, but that’s because it’s been designed with so much from the start---Though the GNE gets a healthy discount from Paladin Steel when equipping the troops. Extensive testing has added to the delays in introducing the weapon to GNE troops---Paladin Steel is well aware of the risks in trying to create an ‘all-in-one’ weapon, and has no desire to deliver an inferior, potentially dangerous, product to frontline soldiers whose lives will depend on a perfectly functioning weapon.
(Post-110 P.A. Update: Despite expected early development problems owing to the effort to incorporate so much into one weapon, the Maximus has indeed become ubiquitous as the ‘Vermonter Rifle’, and emerged as a reliable performer in its own right. It is the standard long arm of the GNE military and issued to all branches.)
Weight: 8 lbs
MDC of Weapon: 45
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage:(SDC) 6d6 SDC single shot
(MDC) 3d6 MD single shot, 6d6 MD double-shot blast, or 1d6x10+10 MD per triple shot pulse burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 35 single shots or 12 pulse shots(more efficient power usage)Six SDC shots equal 1 MDC shot
Bonuses: +1 to strike on an aimed shot
Features:
*-Variable Frequency Settings---Has twelve different light frequencies that can be changed with a touch or voice command. When connected to the targetting module, this system automatically resets in the next melee if the target proves impervious to a given frequency.
*-Targetting Module Package:---This sophisticated, precision sensor package is one of the most compact scope mounts to be produced by PS. In itself, it’s worthy of production; mounted on the Maximus, it makes for a lethal combination of power and accuracy.
Telescopic Optics
Passive Night Vision
Thermo-Imaging
Laser Targetting: +1 to strike
PPE Sensor---Thanks to advanced micro-chip engineering expertise, PS has managed to get the size of the system down to compact enough to fit into the rifle module. The sensor has a 200 ft range(out to 400 ft with 50% error in determination), 60-degree arc, and can detect invisible entities. Othe penalties similar to the Japanese SNARLS system(on which it is based.....see Rifts: Japan, pg. 116).
IR/Normal Light Spotlight-----300 ft range.
Optional Smart Gun Link---Can be fitted for a ‘Smart Gun’ link or any other targetting interfacing.
*Underbarrel attachment point for a bayonet of grenade launcher.
*Underbarrel light guide for attaching and firing PS Rifle Grenades without need of a barrel adaptor. Note that before the laser rifle can be used normally, any attached rifle grenade MUST be fired off first.
*E-clip Porting Power Link---Allows the Maximus to be linked to a cyborg, power pack, or vehicle power source for extended operations.
*Buttstock Tool Kit---The buttstock holds a mini-tool kit with weapon maintenance tools, a small folding-blade multi-tool, fire-starter, mini-mirror, and small first aid kit.
Cost: 60,000 credits; 40,000 without the targetting module. Part of the expense of this weapon is because it is not sold to the mass market.

Options:

*Sniper Kit---This adds a 48 cm barrel extension that focuses the beam, and extends the range to 4,200 ft, but drops the damage to 2d6 MD single shot, 5d6 MD double-shot blast, or 1d6x10 MD per triple shot pulse burst. Cost: 7,000 credits

*Scatter-Laser Kit---This conversion adds what looks like a round-tipped air-cooled muzzle or perforated silencer to the end of the muzzle. In reality, it is a beam-splitter that converts the PSLR-10 into a short ranged ‘laser shotgun’, doing 2d6 MD to an 10 ft-wide area, at about 900 ft range, with a single shot, and 4d6 MD to a 10 ft area with a burst shot. Cost: 8,000 credits

*Naval Conversion---This adds a blue-green frequency setting, neutral bouyancy to the casing, and permits operation down to 3,000 ft underwater. Cost: 8,000 credits.

*Corner-Shot Kit---An extensive modification kit inspired by PS’s discovery(and subsequent mass-production) of workable pre-Rifts ‘corner shooter’ devices. This is more integral to the laser, and consists of an articulated lasing lightpath guide-barrel and attched micro-video-sight that allows the weapon’s firing angle to be ‘bent’ as much as 50 degrees. Normal manual targetting, even with the video-array, is -2 to strike, but this penalty is negated with a smartlink through a headjack and/or cyberoptic HUD(allowing the shooter to be more ‘there’). Popular with police SWAT teams and urban guerillas. Cost: 9,000 credits.

*Regenerating Power Pack---PS introduces its own version of the NG Regenerating Power Pack in 111 P.A., using more advanced d-bee-donated engineering and synthetic power matrix-crystals. This 10 lb unit fits on the buttstock and provides the weapon with 72 single shots, and regenerates 4 shots per hour, up to seven times. The technology is still fairly expensive, though; a single PS RPP costs 80,000 credits(more than the Maximus rifle!), though as PS’s orbital manufactories increase production, the cost is expected to come down in coming years.

Paladin Steel PSR-1 ‘Saber Rifle’ Multi-Mode Plasma Carbine
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/PSR-01_zpsf0268533.jpg

“Aw shucks, with the Saber in ‘Lance’ mode, you’re swingin’ a twenty foot polearm of plasma...you can cut down a whole frackin’ forest with one of these things!”
-Jerry Brunwhiner, Wilderness Scout

“The Saber’s fly-weight compared to your average Northern Gun plasma ‘zooka, which is sure to make this thing friends in the adventurer community, but it’s the energy blade modes that are really going to rock ‘em! It just looks so damn cool (especially with all that chrome!)when you can go from one-hand pistol-shooting with this thing, to blazing sword-mode without pausing...Real nice....”
-Dirk Wolfgar, Duelist, ‘Reagan’s Rangers’

“Like most plasma weapons, the Saber Rifle has pathetic range for a battle rifle, but seeing as the thing’s the size of a submachine gun, and not a piece of stovepipe like its competitors, it has excellent range....and the new superconductors that PS uses means that the thing squeezes the e-clips for all the juice they got....BIG payload for a light plasma weapon...but if you think that makes you invincible, think again....you’re not going to kill tanks with this thing, nor can you parry energy blasts...so don’t figure on playing ‘Sir Supremo the CyberKnight’ with your Saber Rifle and a squad of Deadboys....unless you got a real deathwish...”
-Rugy Backfire, Ogre Mercenary, for “Firepower!” magazine.

“I hate to say this, but when I was going after the rats who hurt my brother, I set down my favorite Nova Rifle and picked up a Saber Rifle.....I could sling it better, and it still made short work of the goons at short range, but it was that reinforced club-muzzle that came in handy when I brained their boss-bitch at close quarters....good heft....good crunch on impact....Never underestimate the value of a good solid blunt weapon in modern combat...never....”
---Sakura Illiyvich, Commander, GNE Special Forces.

Paladin Steel has always been fond of multi-option gear that give the user more types of bang in one package; a policy introduced in their vehicles, and which has extended to their small arms lines as well. The ‘Maximus’ Laser Rifle, SPC-7 ‘Nova’ Particle Beam Rifle, ‘Nimro’ Plasma Rifle/Cutter, OICW ‘Waybur’ Rifle, Multiplexor Mageblade, and the ‘Comet’ Plasma Cannon are just a few examples.The PSR-1 ‘Saber Rifle’ is an extension of PS’s fascination with variable-mode plasma weaponry, and combines the latest in plasma-control Magtech research with PS’s own study of the plasma weaponry of the Kittani.
The ‘Saber Rifle’ is a short, submachine gun-sized weapon of rather heavy metal and ceramic construction(as opposed to the molded plastic and composite typical of PS infantry weapons), with a distinctive axe-blade forestock, and short, narrow, stub buttstock, where the e-clip is loaded in. The handle-grip is jointed, so it can fold flat into the body of the weapon, or stick out at an angle like a conventional firearm. Rippled plastic grips are mounted on the handle, top, and butt of the weapon, allowing it to be held like a two-handed melee weapon with the firing grip locked in the folded position.
The Saber Rifle is, as indicated, a multi-mode weapon. It can operate as a conventional plasma rifle, firing a heavy bolt, or multiple low-power bolts, or, with the flip of a switch, it can extend a magnetic confinement field, and be energized into a two-handed plasma sword! Even in ‘sword’ mode, though, the Saber Rifle is capable of multi-level damage, able to be dialed to a long-burning, short-range plasma blade, or a much longer, more powerful, if short-endurance, ‘plasma lance’! The weapon’s shape and weight, as well as its sturdy construction, also make it a good blunt instrument, able to break skulls without damaging its internal workings. The Saber Rifle combines a long-range weapon and a melee weapon into one; no more scrambling to mount a bayonet or grab a knife when caught at short range, just flip a switch and carve up that charging Juicer!
Paladin Steel anticipates a rush on these novel weapons, and it’s no accident that the first production run of 5,000 units comes out in a chrome-plated surfacing. The Saber Rifle is being plugged as the ‘weapon for your favorite Paladin’, and the public relations for the new weapon almost inevitably feature a knight-figure slashing away with the plasma sword mode.
Date of Introduction: 109 PA
Weight: 6 lbs
Range:(Heavy Bolt) 1,000 ft
(Light Bolt) 2,000 ft
(Plasma Saber) 3 ft
(Plasma Lance) 18 ft
Damage:(Heavy Bolt) 5d6 MD
(Light Bolt) 2d6 MD
(Plasma Saber) 2d4 MD
(Plasma Lance) 6d6 MD
(Blunt Instrument) 1d8 SDC
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload:(Heavy Bolt): 10 shots per standard E-clip. Each shot takes 10 minutes off the saber mode duration,
(Light Bolt) 20 shots per E-clip(1 Heavy Bolt =2 Light Bolts)Each shot takes 5 minutes off the saber mode duration
(Plasma Saber) E-clip can power the saber mode for 2 hours.
(Plasma Lance) E-clip can power the lance mode for 1 hour
Cost: 20,000 credits

Paladin Steel ‘Comet Rifle” Plasma Bazooka

“We like to use the magnetic vortice launcher selector on this thing to prepare a clearing for camping by using it to knock down the low brush and flatten it into a clearing and fire zone....pull the stuff up and pile it in the center, and a touch of the plasma arc, and we got a camp fire going....instant camp!”
---Gorgo Dinkbutton, Orc Grunt, VFS Regular Army

This is another in PS’s small arms efforts; a heavy, bazooka-like over-and-under multi-mode infantry weapon that has been described as a beefed-up version of the breakthrough ‘Nimro’ variable-power plasma rifle, produced by Paladin Steel. The Comet Rifle is heavy, consumes power like a hog, but is incredibly powerful, capable of firing both a standard plasma bolt, a multi-bolt barrage, a magnetically-’packaged’ ‘plasma torpedo’, or an invisible magnetic vortice. It’s designed to be fired from one shoulder, braced with two hands, and sports two e-cips in the stock. An advanced targeting/sensor system is built into the ‘outrigger’ scope for greater accuracy and versatility. The Comet was originally intended for the PS space forces, but has since been adapted by a number of other agencies and branches as well.
The Comet is actually based on Paladin Steel efforts to reconstruct captured Mechanoid plasma rifles, and though the engineers haven’t managed to duplicate the alien weapon exactly, the resulting weapon is more efficient in its power usage, and has better range than any other manportable plasma weapon currently in PS’s arsenal, trading payload and power for range.
The production and distribution of the ‘Comet’ has thus far been rather limited to the PS Stelmarines(orbital armed forces) and elite groundside forces, but a number have also been made available to GNE allies for their evaluation.
Weight: 15 lbs
Range: (Plasma)3,500 ft
(Plasma Bolt) 2,000 ft
(Magnetic Vortices) 2,000 ft
Damage: (Plasma)1d4x10 MD per plasma blast, 3d4x10 MD for a 3-shot rapid-fire burst(takes two attacks)
(Plasma Bolt) 1d4x10 MD to 15 ft blast radius
(Magnetic Vortice-SDC) 2d8 SDC per vortice, plus 60% chance of knocking down human-sized targets, and affects a 10 ft radius
(MDC) 2d8 MD per vortice, 3 ft radius
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Short E-clip proivides enough energy for 8 plasma blasts, or 8 plasma bolts, or 16 MD magnetic vortices, or 160 SDC blasts(10 SDC vortices equal 1 MD blast)
Long E-clip provides enough energy for 16 plasma blasts/bolts, 32/320 magnetic vortices
Remember: TWO clips can be carried; a push of a button above the trigger switches the clips.
Bonuses: +1 to strike from laser targeting
Note: Magnetic force vortices, being invisible, are -8 to dodge
Special Features:
*Sensor Package---To make this weapon more valuable to space forces, PS installed a ‘smart’ sensor package, taken directly off the ‘Maximus’ Laser Rifle.
Telecopic Optics
Pasive Nightvision
Thermo-Imaging
Laser Tageting---+1 to strike
PPE-Sensor----200 ft range(out to 400 ft w/ 50% error in aura determination), 60-degree arc, and can detect invisible enemies(See Rifts: Japan, pg 116 for details on the SNARLS system on which this weapon is ultimately based)
IR/Normal Light Spotlight---300 ft range
Optional Smart-Gun link--Can be fitted for a ‘smart-gun’ link or any other targeting interface
Cost: 90,000 credits

Options:
“Hot Shotting”---This systen 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 Serap, 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). HotShot modding on the Comet costs 10,000 credits, and a recharged cylinder of refined d-gas costs 700 credits(500 credits if the user can return a depleted gas cylinder at the time of purchase) and is good for 30 shots.

[batlchip]

The skin suit stuff works for me.Good job. Taalismn

[taalismn]

The skin suit stuff works for me.Good job. Taalismn

If you're in great physical shape, it's your fashion statement...If you're not in great physical shape, it's an undergarment...worn under armor...