Technology and Equipment

Time Corps Briefing Document. Version 1.02
Copyright © 1997, 1999 Chris Halliday
All Rights Reserved

Introduction

Given the vast array of alien worlds, parallels and time periods open to the Corps, many observers express surprise at the seeming primitive nature of much of the technology we employ. Why use handheld weapons, when cyborg implants do the job just as well and can’t be taken away? Why use visors when a neural web can provide the wearer with so much more information? Why use human agents at all, when synthetics and tailored clones are cheaper and more efficient?

There is a reason. The Corps recruits humans from a specific period in their development as a species, when they are most adaptable and intelligent, without compromising their individuality, aggression and initiative. Time Corps technology is chosen to complement that choice by being easily comprehensible to those that use it without being overpowering or intimidating. The Corps prefers not to have its agents become subservient to the technology they use, which might happen if they were introduced to some of the more advanced technology the Omniverse has to offer. Instead the Corps uses technology that empowers its agents, without taking away their edge.

The basis of much Corps technology is the Monolithic Chip. These are slim slabs of refined plexite, which contain billions of circuits encoded onto their subatomic structure. Under all but the most advanced examinations, monolithic chips appear to be inert wafers of a hardened mineral, and in fact bear a close molecular resemblance to quartz. Consequently, most items of equipment carried by a Time Corps agent appear to be little more than odd collections of crystalline slabs, with no moving parts or discernible circuitry. This makes it extremely hard to reproduce, reducing the risk of historical disruption if it falls into the hands of contemporary individuals.

Most Corps technology requires little in the way of power to operate, and the majority of it runs on Zero Cells. Resembling a steel ball bearing, a zero cell is a solid state device used to tap into a zero-point singularity. These cells provide a steady trickle of power to the device, and a single zero-cell can theoretically last forever.

Weapons and high-energy devices are built using the same techniques, though the high demands for energy eventually destabilise the singularity at the heart of the zero-cell, at which point it has to be replaced. Items such at stunners and plasers normally employ a number of zero-cells in concert, fixed in a replaceable magazine. These magazines are designed to be interchangeable between weapons.

The Corps is such a vast organisation that it would be impossible to detail every piece of equipment used. However, the following section does provide an adequate overview of the majority of field agent equipment in use in the Human Protectorate. Also included here are some of the most notable items encountered in the hands of their enemies. Items marked * are standard field issue. Corps issue equipment is isomorphic, functioning only for Corps personnel.

 

Weaponry

Plaser Pistol: - The standard sidearm of the Time Corps. Developed in the late 24th Century, this directed energy weapon has never been surpassed in terms of accuracy and utility. The weapon works by firing a discrete ‘package’ of energised plasma through a focussing emitter crystal and along a trail of ionised particles left by the targeting laser. Plaser pistols are powered by zero-cell cartridges that slot into the handgrip, but can also be recharged from conventional power sources from any century past the 19th on most parallels. When fully charged, a plaser pistol can fire 50 bolts before reloading, at intensities ranging from stun to destroy. Both the plaser pistol and the larger plaser rifle utilise sophisticated pre-fire target acquisition software to compensate for target and user movement, making the plaser one of the easiest hand weapons in history to use.

Though not much larger than the famous Desert Eagle handgun, plaser pistols can be difficult to conceal. *

Weight: 1 kg (2.2 lbs)
Size: 25 cm long (9.8 inches)
Effective Range: 80 m (262 ft)
Shots: 50
Rate of Fire: Single shot


Plaser Rifle:- Heavier and more powerful than the plaser pistol, this assault weapon is the workhorse of 1st Division. The autofire option makes it a popular choice with new recruits, though more experienced agents prefer to pick and choose their targets. *

Weight: 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs)
Size: 70 cm long (27.5 inches)
Effective Range: 300 m (984 ft)
Shots: 80
Rate of Fire: Single shot or 10 shots per second autofire


Plaser Cannon:- The equivalent of a 20th Century bazooka or heavy machinegun, the plaser cannon is the favoured weapon of Division Omega. Normally used from a tripod, the plaser cannon can also be fired over the shoulder like a bazooka. Division Omega operatives use specially adapted versions of this weapon, built into the arms of their temporal armour.

Weight: 11 kg (24.2 lbs)
Size: 90 cm long (35.4 inches)
Effective Range: 650 m (2132 ft)
Shots: 50
Rate of Fire: Single shot


Acoustic Stunner: - This palm-sized hand weapon uses a high frequency sonic pulse to deliver a powerful neural shock to the target, causing paralysis and unconsciousness in humans. Because the stunner leaves no anomalous physical evidence on its targets and is easy to conceal, it has become a favourite of the Operations Section. Though useful, this device has several drawbacks. It has a maximum range of about fifty meters in a standard terrestrial atmosphere, it has proven to be of limited effectiveness against lifeforms with radically different nervous systems, and the nature of the weapon means that almost any cover at all severely reduces it’s effectiveness. It is powered by a single zero-cell. *

Weight: 0.3 kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 10 cm long (3.9 inches)
Effective Range: 50 m (164 ft)
Shots: 30
Rate of Fire: Single shot


Knife: - This plain black bonded-polycarbide knife has a six-inch multipurpose blade and a low-tech survival kit concealed within the handle. The kit contains flints, a wire saw, a needle, suture thread, water purification tablets and a pyrogel capsule for ingestion should the agent be captured. *

Weight: 0.22 kg (0.5 lbs)
Size: 30.4 cm long (12 inches)


Force Grenade: - Much beloved by agents in a tight spot, the Force Grenade is a reusable personal weapon, which may be programmed to produce a variety of different effects. When the grenade "detonates" it emits a unidirectional burst of charged plasma particles in a specified radius around the device. Varying the power of the burst can produce a wide range of effects, from a light stun to vaporisation, as well as different effect areas. Force Grenades can also be linked to detonate on a broadcast command, or to trigger if unauthorised personnel move within a specified distance of the weapon.*

Weight: 0.3 kg (0.1 lbs)
Size: 10 cm (3.9 inches) sphere
Maximum Effect Area: 15 m (49.2 ft) diameter sphere
Uses: 5


Stasis Bomb: - The stasis bomb is the perfect reusable anti-personnel weapon. An egg-sized sphere, when activated the bomb generates a bubble of slow time around the target. This bubble, with the target in it, can be touched and moved easily (regardless of its contents the bubble only weighs about 3 lbs). The bubble will hold the target in stasis until the bomb is deactivated from outside by a command from a Corps commlink or scanner. The size of the bubble generated can range from a 3ft radius, to 15ft. Like force grenades, stasis bombs can be detonated in a variety of ways.

Weight: 0.3 kg (0.1 lbs)
Size: 7 cm (2.7 inches) sphere
Maximum Effect Area: 4.5 m (15 ft) diameter sphere
Uses: 5


Outriders: - A great favourite of renegades and temporal raiders, outriders are a fine example of 22nd Century combat technology at its very best. Outriders are small, baseball sized remote drones, equipped with anti-graviton propulsion units and bioelectric contact tasers, which orbit the user at a maximum distance of one metre. These drones are linked to the user by a neural tap at the base of the skull which, along with a sophisticated AI combat program, allows the user to control the drones as if they were additional limbs, turning an average hand-to-hand combatant into a devastating opponent. Though outriders usually come in pairs, a skilled user can control as many as six at a time before experiencing any reduction in effectiveness. Though outriders normally deliver a small neural shock, equivalent to a medium blow with a fist, it is possible to increase the damage to a lethal level.

Advanced examples of this technology incorporate holocloaks that allow the user to hide the outriders until they are needed, and provide sensory feedback, acting as additional eyes and ears. Outriders incorporate several potentially disruptive technologies, and thus are not used by the Corps.

Weight: 3.1 (7 lbs)
Size: 9 cm (3.5 inches) sphere


Scyther: - This barbaric handgun is an anti-personnel terror weapon, developed on most parallels in the late 2020’s and designed to inspire such fear in the target that they immediately surrender. In its basic form, the Scyther fires a small, self-propelled projectile, which separates into twelve individual segments. Each segment is connected to the others by the strands of a monowire net, which spreads out to ensnare the target. Since mono-wire easily slices through almost anything, the result of being hit by a Scyther shot is that the target is instantly sliced into a large number of very small pieces. As the cuts are extremely fine, the target very often survives for several seconds, before inevitably falling apart.

Advanced versions of this weapon include target seeking capability based on thermal pattern, image recognition and later, psionic signature. The Corps considers this weapon morally repugnant, and its use by an agent is a gross violation of Corps protocols.

Weight: 3.1 (7 lbs)
Size: 30 cm (11.8 inches)
Effective Range: 450 m (1476 ft)
Shots: 8
Rate of Fire: Single shot


Psi-Gun: - Developed by the Koranthir during their Telepathic Wars, the psi-gun is the perfect assassination tool and has become a favourite of temporal terrorists like Stopwatch. The weapon, which resembles a standard assault rifle, works by scanning the target and analysing the energy pattern generated by their brain and nervous system activity. It then generates and fires a pulse of psionic energy in a pattern exactly opposed to that of the target. The pulse cancels out all neural activity in the target, destroying his mind and killing him without leaving a mark. Post-mortem examination reveals only the mechanical failure of the bodies circulatory and respiratory system cased by the collapse of the autonomic nervous system.

The psi-gun is powered by the assassin’s own life-force, and is capable of scanning and killing a target from a distance of more than twenty miles. Later versions of this weapon were capable of killing a target using pre-recorded scans of their neural activity.

Weight: 2.2 kg (5 lbs)
Size: 85 cm long (33.4 inches)
Effective Range: 35.4 km (22 miles)
Shots: 5
Rate of Fire: Single shot


Temporal Displacement Grenade: - Used by the Corps in only the most extreme situations, these polybdenum powered weapons have become a favourite of temporal pirates and renegades. They have a variable area of effect, and work by transporting everything within range exactly 12 hours into the future. Because these devices are purposefully not equipped with any form of spatial compensator, anything caught in the field of effect usually materialises in hard vacuum, the planetary surface having moved on. As with the force grenade, displacement grenades can be detonated in a variety of ways.

Weight: 0.3 kg (0.1 lbs)
Size: 10cm (3.9 inches) sphere
Maximum Effect Area: 15m (49.2ft) diameter sphere
Uses: 1


Mobius Gun: - A truly horrible weapon, the Mobius Gun is a perfect example of what can be done with temporal technology in the wrong hands. Created by the renegade known as Faust, the Mobius Gun is a compact personal assault weapon, powered by polybdenum cartridges. When fired, it projects a stream of charged tachyons and chronons that interacts with the target’s own chronal field, altering its direction and spin. In effect this pushes the target out of phase with the temporal horizon and into a state where the present moment is extended to infinity. The target apparently vanishes, but in actuality remains in the same spot, unreachable, undying and aware for all eternity, detectable only by those with psionic abilities.

Time Corps agents are instructed to immediately destroy any examples of this technology and details of its construction whenever it is encountered, as a matter of priority.

Weight: 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs)
Size: 75 cm long (29.5 inches)
Effective Range: 300 m (984 ft)
Shots: 10
Rate of Fire: Single shot


Chronoplaser: - An extension of the principles of the plaser, coupled with temporal physics, the Chronoplaser is a weapon of last resort. Instead of firing energised plasma at the target, the Chronoplaser instead fires bolts of directed chronoplasm, the raw stuff of time itself. The effect of this material upon the target can be wildly unpredictable, but may include accelerated ageing, age reversal, a combination of the two, or even deletion from the timeline. Use of a chronoplaser creates disturbances in the temporal field that can be detected with little effort.

Like the Mobius Gun above, the Chronoplaser is on the Corps' restricted technology list. All examples of this device and details of its construction are to be recovered or destroyed whenever it is encountered.

Weight: 3 kg (6.6 lbs)
Size: 30 cm (11.8 inches)
Effective Range: 400 m (1312 ft)
Shots: 10
Rate of Fire: Single shot

 

Personal Equipment

Scanner: - This multipurpose handheld device incorporates sensors, recorders and a computer in a convenient and portable form, about the size of a paperback book. A skilled operator can reconfigure it to function as a bioscanner if required, and it may be used in conjunction with a variety of more specialised external sensors. The scanner may also be linked to the AI on an agent’s Timeglider, should additional computing power be required. This device is one of the Corps most frequently used tools, and is a valuable asset to any agent in the field. *
Weight: 0.3 kg (0.66 lbs)
Size: 10 x 17 x 2 cm (3 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches)
Effective Range: 2000 m
Duration: 900 hours continuous use


Commlink: - The silver and gold hourglass insignia worn by all Time Corps personnel doubles as a personal voice communicator, designed to maintain voice contact between Corps agents where or whenever they may be. The device may also be used to track and locate agents, and for contact with other forms of Corps equipment (such as the Timeglider AI, or QAIN). Activated by a dermal sensor keyed solely to the authorised user or users, the commlink has a planet-wide range, but no transtemporal capability. The commlink can broadcast over a wide band of scrambled hyperwave frequencies, and can be used for wide transmission to all commlinks within range, or for one-to-one communication. The commlink comes with a contact bone induction transceiver for surreptitious use. All functions of the commlink are voice controlled, spoken while skin contact is maintained. There are no external controls. *

Weight: 0.02 kg (0.04 lbs)
Size: 5 x 5 x 0.5 cm (1.96 x 1.96 x 0.19 inches)
Effective Range: Planetary
Duration: 1000 hours continuous use


Lifterpac: - This device is a simple anti-graviton backpack and harness that gives its wearer the power of flight. Activated and guided via a basic pistol-grip control unit, the standard lifterpac has a top speed of 70 mph (in standard Earth atmosphere and gravity) and can support a maximum of 500 lbs, including the user. Under zero-g conditions, the lifterpac has a top speed of 500 mph. Lifterpacs also feature a low-power force shield, designed to protect the user from wind effects, but which is capable of repelling small arms fire.

Though useful, lifterpacs are difficult to master and their use requires intensive training. Normally only one lifterpac is assigned to each mission team. *

Weight: 4 kg (8.8 lbs)
Size: 40 x 30 x 40 cm (15.7 x 11.8 x 15.7 inches)
Maximum Speed: 40 kph
Flight Range: 6000 km (3728 miles)
Flight Duration: 150 hours


Chronopac: - This slightly bulkier item consists of a basic lifterpac with a more powerful force shield, combined with a two-shot time drive. A favourite of 1st Division, this device can be used to mount aerial assaults across time, giving the trooper a tactical advantage whilst retaining the option to clock out and return home. When used in mass assaults, the time drive is usually slaved to the mission commander, allowing him or her to call off the mission and return all Corps personnel to the Citadel at any time.

Weight: 4.5 kg (10 lbs)
Size: 40 x 30 x 55 cm (15.7 x 11.8 x 21.6 inches)
Maximum Speed: 40 kph
Temporal Range: Single parallel
Flight Range: 4000 km (2485 miles)
Flight Duration: 100 hours
Uses: 2


Mission Suit: - Woven from a programmable mimetic smart fabric, an inactive basic mission suit is an all-in-one slate-grey jump-suit, covered with equipment pouches. Upon activation, the fabric follows its programming, changing shape, colour and texture until it has literally become another set of clothes. Although mission suits may be used to simulate native clothing for almost any time-period, and may be reprogrammed at any point through an interface with a Corps issue scanner, they cannot form separate items (e.g., removable socks and shoes), and so are recommended for use only on short missions. In addition to their camouflage capability, mission suits are durable enough to act as light armour, have intelligent temperature control, and can provide basic life support and bio-sign monitoring in emergency situations. *

Weight: 0.22 kg (0.5 lbs)


Camoweb: - Derived from Vashakti stealth armour, a camoweb is a lightweight body suit that uses hologram technology to render the user practically invisible. Camoweb masks the user on all light wavelengths and mutes his bioelectric field emissions to levels approximating plant-life. The suit incorporates a sophisticated cooling system, reducing the users thermal signature to background levels, and can be fitted with basic life support equipment.

Camoweb suits are invaluable in reconnaissance missions where drones are unusable, and can be worn over combat armour. However, camoweb is relatively fragile, and care must be taken not to damage the hologram matrix while wearing it. If the matrix is disrupted, the user will immediately become visible.

Weight: 0.25 kg (0.55 lbs)
Duration: 50 hours continuous use


Capture Pod: - The capture pod is a combined stasis field generator and one-way time machine, used solely to transfer prisoners from their current chronospatial location to the Cage. A collapsible man-sized canister with a few basic controls, one capture pod is stored in each Timeglider as standard. The destination is pre-programmed, and once sealed, the pod cannot be opened without killing the occupant, except by specially trained Corps personnel. *

Weight: 6.8 kg (15 lbs)
Size: 228.6 x 121.9 x 58.4 cm (90 x 48 x 23 inches)
Size (collapsed): 60 x 121.9 x 58.4 cm (23.6 x 48 x 23 inches)
Duration: 900 hours continuous use
Uses: 1


Bioscanner: - This vital tool is a combination medical database and diagnostic computer, coupled with an array of high-resolution bio-function sensors and recorders. Slightly larger than a standard scanner, this device is standard issue to all agents assigned to Medical Division. *

Weight: 0.3 kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 10 cm x 17.5 cm x 2 cm (3 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches)
Effective Range: 1000 m (3280 ft)
Duration: 900 hours continuous use


Medpac:- A supplementary device for the bioscanner, the emergency medpac is capable of automated delivery of full life support, as well as intravenous medication, a localised sterile zone and a limited regeneration field. When slaved to the bioscanner, this device is fully capable of providing a tailored programme of medical aid, using in-built replicon circuitry to synthesise the exact materials required. Though this item is bulky (approximately twice the size of a standard scanner), it has proved its worth in the field and no experienced agent will allow his or her team to clock out without one. *

Weight: 0.3 kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 10 x 17 x 4 cm (3 x 6.6 x 1.5 inches)
Effective Range: 2000 m
Duration: 900 hours continuous use


Medkit: - Standard issue on all Timegliders and to all Corps medical personnel, the personal medkit is stored in a small pouch worn at the belt, and consists of the following items: *


Toolkit: - The toolkit is a book-sized pack of sophisticated tools and devices designed to allow any agent to perform repairs on technological equipment from almost any era. Using the toolkit, a skilled individual could construct almost any technological device, given the right materials and enough time. The kit includes: *

Weight: 0.6 kg (1.5 lbs)
Size: 20 x 10.5 x 4 cm


Visor: - Part of the standard Operations Section uniform, the visor is more than just eyewear. Molecularly encoded lens technology allows the visor to incorporate light amplification, 100X magnification, and ultra-violet and infrared vision capability. The controls are touch coded to the wearer and the visor is powered by an in-built long-life solar capacitor. The visor can also function as a "heads up" display for other Corps equipment, linked either directly or by short-range hyperwave.*

Weight: 0.03 kg (0.06 lbs)
Size: 13 cm long, 5 cm wide and 0.2 cm thick (5 inches long, 1.9 inches wide and 0.1 inches thick)
Duration: 900 hours continuous use


Neural Block: - This device is small, about the size of a modern day pager, and is used to restrain prisoners without harming them. When activated and pressed to the prisoners skin close to their spinal column, the device adheres and blocks all conscious nerve impulses, while allowing the autonomic nervous system to function normally. This effectively paralyses the prisoner, rendering them completely unable to move, speak or act in any way. This device is extremely useful, but prolonged use is not recommended, as the experience can have serious psychological repercussions.*

Weight: 0.03 kg ( 0.06 lbs)
Size: 5 x 3 x 1 cm (1.9 x 1.1 x 0.4 inches)
Duration: 30 hours continuous use


Restrainers: - These are simple adjustable manacles, wearable on either wrists or ankles. Unlike ordinary handcuffs, this device works by projecting a force-field through the flesh of the prisoner, making the restrainers part of the prisoner. The field does no harm, and causes no pain, but the prisoner cannot remove the restrainers without losing the restrained limbs.    Restrainers can be programmed to deliver neural shocks of increasing strength to a prisoner should they stray from a pre-programmed area, and can also be set to transmit a homing signal should the prisoner somehow escape.

Both restrainers and the neural block are useful tools, but as temporal criminals tend to be extremely resourceful, Corps agents are encouraged to put their prisoners into stasis as soon as possible.*

Weight: 0.3kg (0.6 lbs)
Size: 2 units, 3 x 4 x 2 cm each (1.1 x 1.5 x 0.7 inches)
Duration: 50 hours continuous use


Temporal Isolator: - A simple palm-sized device worn strapped to the upper arm, the isolator allows agents in the field to temporarily bypass the effects of the Singularity Principle by introducing a random oscillation into the users Quantum Signature. Agents using this device may therefore encounter their recent past selves in relative safety, though it is recommended that the isolator be used only as a last resort. Use of this device is extremely energy intensive and it has proven to be only fifty percent effective. A side effect of the oscillation generated by the device is that the user is temporarily isolated from the local timestream. Though the user can interact fully with local reality, they have limited protection from the effects of temporal disruptions generated downtime of their current location.

Weight: 0.1 kg (0.2 lbs)
Size: 6 x 7 x 1 cm (2.3 x 2.7 x 0.4 inches)
Duration: 5 hours continuous use


Time Belt: - This is a miniature belt mounted time drive, capable of transporting one agent and her personal equipment up to a maximum of forty-eight hours in time only. The belt contains a single polybdenum crystal, good for two jumps, but can be recharged by draining energy from the drive torus of a Corps Timeglider.

The time belt consists of a wide mimetic fabric belt with a heavy circular clasp, which contains the drive circuitry. Two additional buckles mounted at the small of the back contain the navigational unit and power pack. Like the commlink, the belt functions are touch activated and voice controlled, though it may be programmed remotely through a Corps scanner or Timeglider AI.*

Weight: 0.9 kg (2 lbs)
Range: 48 hours
Uses: 2


Psi-Scanner: - Based on the standard issue Corps scanner, the psi-scanner is a dedicated unit designed for use in historical interrogations. When used by a skilled operator, this device is capable of downloading a complete copy of a subject’s mind and memories. The operator can then interrogate the device and upload the desired information into his own short-term memory, allowing him to ‘experience’ it directly. Also, the device can be used to create new, altered memories and upload them into the mind of the subject, editing out potentially disruptive or anachronistic experiences. The effectiveness of the device is directly linked to the skill of the operator in creating plausible and complete memory simulations.

Though the psi-scanner has proven invaluable to the Corps in obtaining historical information and covering up temporal disruptions, agents are only to it when authorised, as memories created with it have been known to wear off unexpectedly. Also, a number of agents have experienced unusual addictive side-effects as a result of using the psi-scanner for prolonged periods.

The psi-scanner is the same size and shape as a standard scanner, and comes with two sets of neural contacts, which must be worn by both operator and subject.

Weight: 0.3 kg (0.66 lbs)
Size: 10 x 17 x 2 cm (3 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches)
Effective Range: 2000 m
Duration: 900 hours continuous use


Causal Inverter: - Colloquially referred to as the "Big Red Reset Button", the Causal Inverter is a powerful device only to be used in extreme emergencies. When activated, the device effectively rolls time back a few minutes (usually less than five, but occasionally as much as thirty), allowing the user to relive them all over again, armed with the knowledge of what is going to happen. Only the user has recall of the previous version of events, other individuals must use paramemory to realise that time has been altered. The Causal Inverter uses a small polybdenum cell, and is a one-shot device about the size of a pocket calculator.

Because of the damage this device causes to local space-time, General Order 132 forbids use of the Causal Inverter by Corps agents. However, temporal pirates and renegades often use these devices, and it is suspected that several agents use them in defiance of the regulations. Note that this device does not allow agents to bypass the Rule of Death.

Weight: 0.2 kg (0.4 lbs)
Size: 7 x 12.5 x 1 cm (2.7 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches)
Maximum Range: 30 minutes
Duration: Single use

 

Other Technology

Mindlock: - Since many of the temporal threats faced by the Corps use psionics, it has become necessary to find ways to suppress that ability. Hence the creation of the mindlock. A slim metallic headband, encoded with circuitry and powered by a zero-cell, the mindlock is a psionic supressor device capable of rendering the most powerful psi helpless. It works by analysing the exact frequency of a psi’s mental emissions, and then generates a counter-wave, cancelling the psi’s powers out. A side-effect of this device is that the psi experiences severe confusion and disorientation, and is generally incapable of self-motivated action until the device is removed.

Though mindlocks are extremely useful in restraining psis, they are not recommended for prolonged use. If worn for more than two or three hours, the psi may suffer permanent brain damage. There has also been at least one recorded example of a telepath powerful enough to alter the frequency of his psionic emissions, by-passing the effects of the device.*

Weight: 0.2 kg (0.4 lbs)
Duration: 30 hours continuous use


Psi-Block: - In the early part of the 21st Century, increased paranoia about the existence of telepathy led to the development of the Psi-Block, a device designed to prevent a telepath from scanning the user. Early forms of this device were bulky and hard to conceal, but later advances led to such a reduction in size that a psi-block could be easily implanted into the user’s body and be powered by their own bio-electric field or by blood turbines. Prolonged use of these devices can cause a progressive neurological degeneration.

Weight: Variable
Size: Variable


Psi-Amp: - Based on the same technology to the psi-block, a psi-amp augments a psi’s personal power by analysing and amplifying his psionic emissions. Like psi-blocks, psi-amps were initially bulky devices, but later became small enough for surgical implantation. Psi-amps are not for prolonged use, as they are unreliable and can cause severe synaptic damage. Corps psis are encouraged to rely on their own strength rather than the borrowed power of technology.

Weight: Variable
Size: Variable


Drones: - Remote drones are small but invaluable devices. Slightly smaller than a Terran soccer ball, the remote drone is an autonomous device designed to provide a wide variety of sensory data without putting the user at risk. The drone is equipped with anti-graviton thrusters, enabling movement at speeds of up to 200 mph in standard Earth gravity and atmosphere, as well as holo-emitters for camouflage, a two-way audio-visual commlink, a built-in scanner array and limited AI capability.

Normally controlled through a Corps issue scanner, the drone can feed its sensory input directly to the user through their visor display. Drones have proven invaluable in the past for tracking individuals and objects, as well as for performing low-risk reconnaissance. Due to their on-board AI, drones can be programmed with a minimum of effort, and can perform simple tasks by themselves, like patrolling a perimeter and raising the alarm should intruders approach. With effort, the drones holo-emitters can be reconfigured to present whatever image the user requires.

Weight: 3 kg (6.6 lbs)
Size: 20 cm sphere (7.8 inches)
Duration: 500 hours continuous use


Security Drones: - Like the basic drone above, the security drone is an autonomous mobile device, equipped with camouflage, limited intelligence, sensors and communications equipment. Unlike the basic drone, it is also armed and is fully capable of defending itself against attack. Larger than the basic drone (about the size of a Terran basketball), security drones are equipped with force shields capable of absorbing blasts from most high-energy weapons and deflecting small arms fire. They are also fitted with a number of offensive weapons, such as plasers, stunners, disruptors and a forcewhip. Agents typically use security drones to secure a perimeter, or to provide backup in combat situations.

Weight: 3.8 kg (8.3 lbs)
Size: 30 cm sphere (11.8 inches)
Duration: 600 hours continuous use


Transmat: - The primary method of transport from the 25th Century onward, the transmat is a simple matter-energy-matter converter and transmitter device. Unlike similar devices, the transmat functions by translating the subject into series of quantum wave potentialities, effectively turning the subject from a real individual into a possible one. The wave series is transmitted through a narrow-focus hyperspace conduit to the destination point, where the waves are collapsed from potentialities into a real event once more, re-materialising the subject.

Travel by transmat is normally instantaneous, though it is possible to store a subject’s potentialities in a quantum memory core for short periods of time. During normal transmission, it is possible to read the potentialities, scanning them for weapons, infections or other harmful components. An operator can then "edit out" these factors before the potentialities are re-collapsed, effectively destroying any harmful or undesirable matter.
 

Replicon: - Derived from the same basic principles as the transmat, the replicon is a matter replicator, capable of generating physical objects from pre-recorded quantum wave potentialities. Given sufficient energy, a replicon can generate any object stored in its database, on demand. Replicons are capable of creating food, weapons, medical supplies, mechanical and electronic devices instantaneously.

Replicons work in the same basic way as a transmat, by de-actualising a given object into its component quantum wave potentialities, transforming it from an actual object to a potential one. Unlike the transmat, the replicon can store this wave pattern indefinitely and can re-actualise it on command, generating duplicate copies of the initial item.

There are limits to what a replicon can do. Replicons cannot create matter from nothing, so they require large amounts of energy to function. Also, while they can produce inert biological matter, a replicon cannot generate life, a limitation imposed by the amount of information necessary to reproduce living things.

Corps production facilities use massive industrial replicons to produce the majority of their equipment, while smaller replicons are used throughout the Citadel and in other Corps facilities to provide everything from food and drink to clean uniforms and scanners. Note that certain objects and substances, like polybdenum crystal, cannot be scanned and generated by replicon technology.
 

Jump Snare: - This device functions by generating a high-density field of temporal gravity, which distorts space-time in such a way that anything travelling through time within its operational range is drawn to the snare, re-entering reality on the jump snare platform. Though useful, jump snares are rare, as they require large amounts of polybdenum crystal every time they are used, and the temporal disturbance they create is easily detected with the right equipment.

A jump snare is typically an unwieldy piece of equipment, and has a large power requirement in addition to the polybdenum that it uses. The Corps uses an advanced variant of this technology to guide incoming time-craft to the receiving bays, and to prevent unauthorised access to the Citadel. The Corps never uses jump snares in the field however, as the distortion to space-time they create can lead to behavioural anomalies and causal disruption further down the timeline.
 

Nano-guards: - A particularly unpleasant development of the 23rd Century Colony Wars, nano-guards are molecule sized devices that are seeded around an area that an individual wishes to keep secure. The guards are given a series of genetic profiles for those who are allowed access, and then are simply left. The guards remain inert until a life-form is detected, whereupon they activate. The subject’s DNA is analysed, and compared to the authorised profiles. If there is no match, the guards go into attack mode. What happens then depends on the programming the guards have been given. They can be programmed to incapacitate or stun the intruder, holding him for interrogation, but more often than not they are programmed to infiltrate the target and disassemble him, a horrifically painful process that can take several minutes to complete. Nano-guards have been used as assassination weapons in the past, by programming them to activate on detection of the target’s genetic signature.

For many years after the wars for which they were produced, nano-guards were a lurking menace, often remaining dormant for decades before being awoken by some hapless soul, killing long after the men who had deployed them were dead. For this reason, Corps General Order 221 forbids the use of nano-weapons in the field.
 

Holocentre: - The term "holocentre" is actually a misnomer, as no holograms are used in this versatile and useful piece of Corps technology. The name is a holdover from the immersive hologram environment centres first used by mankind in the mid-21st Century. Those primitive devices used a complex mixture of holograms and textured forcefields to create a totally convincing simulation of reality, to be used for training and recreational purposes. The Corps holocentre is a far more sophisticated device, creating the desired environment within an unstable dimensional bubble by using conceptual engineering, a mathematical technique capable of shaping reality itself. Within the bubble universe, the programmed environment and situation is fully real, as are any entities within it. While the size of the bubble is limited, dedicated AI’s continually update the equations that maintain it, giving the internal environment the illusion of infinite size. The reality of the environment is such that created beings within it will act as though they are real, though in reality they are merely simulations following extremely complex programs.

While objects and being created within the holocentre are physically real, that reality is maintained only as long as the program that created them is running. Once the program is halted and the bubble universe collapses any created objects or being outside of the holocentre will de-resolve.

Holocentres are popular items with Corps personnel. They are frequently used for recreational purposes, as they can accurately reproduce any desired location or situation. A popular holocentre pastime is "role-play", a combination of game and interactive theatre, where the user or users take on a different persona within the created environment, becoming a character within a pre-generated story. Others prefer to use the holocentre for more physical pursuits, such as rock climbing, zero-g combat, sun-diving or surfing.

The Corps makes extensive use of holocentres during training scenarios and for evaluations. The infamous "Academy Assault" evaluation scenario takes place entirely within a holocentre, without the knowledge of the participating agents.

Holocentres are programmed to protect their users from harm, though it is still possible to get hurt within them. Though on the default setting potential damage is limited to the equivalent of a light slap, the user can adjust the safety levels, adding an extra layer of reality. However, holocentres have a number of subsystems that prevent lethal incidents.
 

Eternity Rooms: - This is a device used to monitor and observe the structure of the Omniverse, and is among the most spectacular technology the Corps employs. An Eternity Room is a large spherical chamber, with a slim walkway leading to a control dais at the centre of the sphere, and a number of hovering platforms capable of supporting up to ten agents each. Using holocentre technology and sophisticated conceptual engineering equations, the sphere creates an exact graphical representation of the Omniverse at any chosen time, allowing the users to see temporal disruptions as they occur and to map the possible outcome of their effects.

The Eternity Rooms are most often used to predict the effects of enemy actions, but can also be used to locate areas in space-time vulnerable to disruption, track transparallel ripples back to their point of origin and locate new parallels.

Eternity Rooms were derived from technology developed by the Chronarchs of Ramatheya. It is rumoured that they possess Eternity Rooms that not only display the Omniverse, but also in some way enclose it, allowing them to actually manipulate entire parallels from a distance.

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