M E A T B A G
- Intent: To create a new generation personal concealment system.
- Image Source: The Predator (2018) Movie [IMDB Link] - Gif made by Imgur.
- Canon Link: Not Applicable.
- Permissions: Not Applicable.
- Primary Source: Repurposed Canon Articles, Cyricept Personal Concealment System, Optical Camouflage System, Sinrich Optical Dephaser, Multispectrum Disguise Suite, Thermoguard Bodyglove.
- Manufacturer: Republic Engineering Corporation - Special Projects Division, The Golden Company - Armourer’s Guild, The Thyrsian Hierarchy - Royal Armourer’s Guild.
- Affiliation: The Golden Company, The Thyrsian Hierarchy, Semhar and her Sephi Enclaves Closed-Market.
- Model: TTH/ACS-01 “Actaeon” - Pattern Active Camouflage Generator, or "Alaric's Shroud" - Pattern Concealment Generator.
- Modularity: No; the Generator is a Module itself.
- Production: Minor-scale Production.
- Material:
- Durasteel,
- Insulating Materials,
- Various Concealment Generator Components.
- Externally Mounted Module.
- Variable Cloaking Coverage (Small to Large-sized Characters.)
- Integrated Rechargeable Power Cell.
- Integrated Concealment Projectors.
- Hexagonal "Materialization" when Deactivated or Activated.
- Capable of bending light and electromagnetic waves, as well as dampening sound; granting imperfect invisibility to the bearer and their weapons.
- Imperfect thermoguard bodyglove capabilities; able to alter emitted temperature(s) at will to fool conventional thermal/infrared/ultraviolet sensors, disguising them as sensor anomalies. More advanced systems and highly-trained/alert guards would likely see through this technological facade.
- Visible phantasmal silhouette; easier to detect when deployed in visual range and the wearer is in motion.
- External precipitation clings to the generated cloak (Rain, Snow, Ash, Etc.)
- Extremely limited EMP and ion resistance (Background electromagnetic defense only.)
- Full reboot requirement after the generated cloak’s been disabled or collapses (Roughly, One minute.)
- Cannot dampen externally created sound (Broken twigs, Etc.)
- Cannot mask footprints on soft ground.
- It cannot be used in conjunction with personal energy shields.
- Ripple Effect - Visibly distorts when weapons are discharged within the shroud, and due to the muzzle flash - the system needs to be reset, lest the shroud showcases the wearer's newly-illuminated surroundings.
Although the Golden Company have taken to the battlefield, clad in the armour the same hue of their namesake, a majority of the Sun Guards within that Outfit’s ranks couldn’t forget their origins as Special Forces operatives. While they had little issue adapting to their new way of waging war, there were those among their number that wished for something a little more familiar. Thus, the historical foundations of the Actaeon were laid out before the combined intellectual might of the Corscanti, Thyrsian, and newly inducted Sephi Enclaves. The latter was a relatively new addition, but through a momentary lapse in judgement and benevolent charity - the Core-born architects wove the Knife-eared Engineers into their Special Projects Division. With the fresh blood and expertise added to their ranks, the triumvirate began collaborating on bringing their new device out of the conceptual stages.
At the very basic level, the Actaeon was intended to be a new generation of personal concealment devices; meant to shroud the warrior from the visual spectrum and many forms of electronic scanning; allowing the wearer to infiltrate deep behind enemy lines. However, during their original drafting period, the technical architects found themselves using the rare stygium crystals as the basis for their design; only to find themselves incapable of meeting the quantity-based demands of all parties involved. Therefore, their focus shifted towards easily accessible and alternative methods to achieve their end goal. The first method they attempted, that held a measure of promise, utilized photo-reactive panels that concealed a wearer’s infrared signature, as well as being capable of blending into their surroundings like a chameleon.
However, while they could claim that they achieved their goals, it was judged to be an ineffective waste of time due to the amount of modifications needed to be made in order to make the system viable for operational use. Therefore, the Actaeon was brought back to the drawing board with efficiency and portability in mind.
The second variation that was created achieved that goal through a combination of various arcane technologies and radical ideas. Through the use of a finely-tuned holographic energy field that was capable of warping various waves around the user; granting them an imperfect form of invisibility to the naked, and electronically-enhanced eye. This projected Holoshell tightly enveloped the user, and devoured the internal electromagnetic waves, as well as dampening the emitted sound waves to deny conventional, military-grade sensors the ability to detect the activated device with any accuracy. In addition to the aforementioned points, the Actaeon was capable of bending Light itself around the wearer, much like the multispectrum Holographic disguise, leaving nothing but an ethereal phantasm in their place - as their surroundings would be reflected back at any would-be method of detection.
Whilst remaining perfectly still, it was noted that the subjects equipped with the Concealment Generator were harder to detect, rather than when they were in motion. It was because the generator’s were consistently adapting to their ever-shifting background environment(s), and were sometimes unable to keep up with the rapid pace set by many of the cybernetically, and genetically augmented Sun Guard. Nevertheless, such a factor was given little heed in the grander scheme of things, as with the chaos of the battlefield erupting all around them, it was unlikely that an enemy would spot them until it was too late.
When speaking of the drawbacks of the device, there was little that could be done when it came to external interference like a heavy downpour, falling snow, or ash. Each of the aforementioned variations of precipitation would coat, or cling to the projected light-warping Holoshell and alert a cognizant hostile to the presence of a cloaked phantasm. In addition to that environmental deployment hazard, the Actaeon held little resistance to Magpulse or Ionic weaponry; which would force the systems to overload and entirely collapse the shroud of adaptive camouflage. As well, the generated shroud wasn’t capable of dampening the sounds emitted from outside its nigh-skintight bubble, unlike the variable noise generated within the field. This unfortunate drawback meant that if an Operator broke a twig underfoot - those within aural range would be notified to their masked presence and act accordingly.
Despite the various imperfections, the Actaeon was the perfect addition to the Sun Guard’s ever-growing arsenal. While many would consider shrouding oneself from the gaze of your enemies as a cowardly act that was bereft of honour, it would be stated that the martial tenets of honour meant nothing to a corpse. With the Actaeon in hand? It was likely there would be many discarded trophies littering the various battlefields across the stars - each bearing the masterful handiwork of the Scions of Thyrsus.
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