AMCO
I'm Sorry Dave
- Intent: To create a mass-produced shock collar for Vandiir Consolidated Holdings.
- Image Source: [X]
- Canon Link: Slaving Collar;
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Vandiir Consolidated Holdings
- Model: Blixus-pattern Shock Collar
- Affiliation: Closed-Market (Effectively Open-Market in small quantities, due to its small size and mass-produced nature.)
- Modularity: Yes, see Appendix A.
Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Durasteel (Primary), Leather (Thin layer to limit chafing), Shock Panels, Misc. Components.
- Variable Strength Shock Panels
- Removal Safeguards
- Cheap and Reliable: While more expensive than normal shock collars, the Blixus-pattern is substantially more durable and known for its reliability, bringing down costs in the long run.
- Relatively Comfortable: The thin layer of soft leather prevents most chaffing, making it more humane or avoiding damage to the product, depending on one's priorities.
- Modularity: The collar comes in multiple different variants to fulfil different roles. The standardised production makes it possible to change between them post-production if one has all the necessary parts and sufficient technical know-how.
- Ion Vulnerability: While decently protected from indirect Ion blasts, direct hits will typically result in the collar deactivating and being removable through force alone. (NB! Entirely mechanical removal safeguards would be unaffected, but those are not standard issue, being somewhat more expensive.)
- Still a Shock Collar: Even with a decently comfortable layer of leather to prevent chafing, people are still not going to want to wear these, for obvious reasons.
Originally designed for use on VCH's test subjects, it was decided that the collars would be mass-produced and made available to the general public, partly for profitability, and partly to ensure plausible deniability if these collars fall into the hands of law enforcement in connection with, e.g., an escaped test subject. After all, VCH tries its best to ensure that these collars are used ethically, but there will unfortunately always be potential for abuse.
Marketed as a "humane prisoner suppression device", the collar nonetheless has a tendency to fall into the hands of slavers, shady government agencies, and all manner of other morally dubious groups and individuals. That is not to say, however, that the collar is available to everyone. VCH refuses to do business with the Hutts and any individual or group proved to have used one of these collars on an Imperial Citizen without permission from the proper Sith-Imperial authorities will receive a permanent market ban. That being said, outside of these scenarios VCH has a particularly liberal sales policy, rarely if ever denying a sale except for purely financial reasons. As stated by the company's PR department: "Criminals will always get their hands on shock collars. At least, if they end up with ours through indirect purchases, these collars will meet Vandiir Consolidated Holdings' usual high standard when it comes to comfort and reliability. You wouldn't want an innocent slave to die because of a faulty collar, would you?"
The shock collars are remotely controlled, either by means of a standard controlled or by being slaved to, e.g., a wrist link or computer console. It is possible for a collar to be linked to more than one controller and also possible for one controller to have more options than another, e.g., giving all guards the ability to shock lightly, while reserving the right to trigger more powerful shocks or activate the removal safeguards to higher ranking guards. Similarly, it is possible for one controller to be linked to multiple shock collars. This is especially common when slaved to consoles. In addition, the collar can also be set to activate, e.g., when crossing a perimeter or when in proximity to something. When such functionality is activated, it typically increases in intensity the further one goes, possibly even knocking them out or killing them outright through the shock alone or one of the removal safeguards.
Two primary variants of the shock collar exist, each with a different method of removal, with no noticeable difference in price, weight, or other functionality. The first is deactivated with a small stick-shaped durasteel "key", which can be exclusive to one collar or made for multiple. The second involves a special machine and is considered safer, though the machine would typically be able to remove all the collars, making it an added risk that if the slaves manage to get a hold of it they might all get free. Collars destined for specific prisons may also be made in such a way that they require a similar machine to put them on, in order to ensure that if a prisoner somehow managed to remove his collar, he wouldn't be able to put it on a guard.
Appendix A (Modularity):
Removal Safeguards (Alternatives):
- Thermal Detonator: Intended to avoid collateral damage, the blast is directed inwards, violently decapitating the wearer if activated.
- Auto-Shock: Knocking the wearer unconscious with an extremely powerful shock if tampered with, this is far less lethal than the thermal detonator option. There is some risk of death depending on the strength, especially for prisoners/slaves with heart conditions, though they probably shouldn't be wearing shock collars at all. It is possible to set it up so that the shock will kill if tampering continues, so as to prevent prisoners from freeing each other. It is alternatively possible to set it up so that all nearby collars will activate if one is tampered with.
- Toxin Injector: Capable of injecting any kind of toxin, from those intended to stun to lethal neurotoxins, this is perhaps the most versatile option, though depending on the toxin used it could also be the most expensive one.
