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[_DivideByZero_]

((I've been sick the past few days, and it wasn't pleasant. But I'm getting better now, so I shall mini-roll. Also, @ Happy...

Antimatter is a pretty terrible power source compared to other things that you may have on hand. It's extremely unstable, requires constant power upkeep just to not explode, puts out absurd amounts of ionizing radiation (which itself requires a lot of mass to shield against), . On the other hand, it can be used to catalyze micro-fusion, so I'll write a quick lore entry to reflect the actual uses of antimatter for those purposes.

It's pretty much reserved for things that don't need to worry about radiation and absolutely must conserve mass. Like long-ranged rockets. Rarely weapons, although it's basically like chucking pure gold at your opponents.))

Spoiler: AX Cells (click to show/hide)

Antimatter is a form of matter with opposite charge, and a tendency to explode when it comes into contact with the corresponding anti-particle. Not, mind you, with other types of anti-particles. A positron will not react with an antiproton at rates enough to matter. Of course, it's fairly difficult to keep them separated, and so a lot of work goes into containing the blasted stuff.

Antimatter can be used for essentially 1-1 mass-to-heat conversion. The problems include the fact that the reaction products are mostly gamma rays and charged particles with complicated decay cycles. Getting a 100% efficient energy conversion is nearly impossible, and as such an antimatter reactor is generally no more efficient than a fusion reactor. Antimatter is hard to produce, the majority of the supply coming from natural sources such as circumstellar disks and planetary rings. In the case that a large concentration is needed, it can be synthesized in a laboratory at <1% efficiency, which pretty much means it will never be economical without significant innovation. Since it's so hard to synthesize, antimatter harvesting is a valued profession, and sweepers are constantly seeking out dust belts around stars to scour for new antimatter sources.

Saturn was the first commercial center of production, followed by an artificial cloud belt within the vicinity of Jupiter designed to maximize production.
J1407, or Hera, was the first step toward a sustainable long-term source of antimatter. Its brown dwarf companion not only emits some of its own antimatter due to its thin atmosphere and relatively shallow gravity well, but featured a ring system hundreds of times larger than Saturn's, producing several milligrams of antimatter every year. This level of production was enough to kickstart interstellar commerce, so its effect on history is remembered even though the dust ring has since thinned out naturally.

Antimatter, despite its rarity and value, is relatively commonplace as a catalyst for microfission. A tiny pellet of uranium is completely harmless, for the most part, until it gets hit with a couple of antiprotons. A mere pittance of antiparticles can catalyze enough reactions to sail around a star system multiple times using efficient ablative drives, which led to the development of the first torch drive by a human corporation near Hera.


Antimatter is most often stored inside metastable buckyball traps, usually dissolved in a solvent capsule. These capsules are known as AX Cells, which are used by microfusion reactors to produce a steady reaction when supplied with deuterium or helium-3. Despite the name, ground-based microfusion reactors are necessarily heavy, requiring layers of shielding to protect against the gamma rays. They can weigh several tons, and are difficult to fit onto a portable unit. In space, however, microfusion cells can be tiny and are a preferred choice for low-mass operations and missile systems.

Fire at the jetski and take cover. Preferably in reverse order.

[3] You take cover... behind the hydrogen tank! The thing is well-armored, and the assailant surely won't fire at you, risking such a big explosion! That could kill him as well as everyone nearby. Despite the threat, however, you still hear firing. The target is firing at the others on the dock, who follow behind you! The shooting soon stops.

[5] vs (5): Hitting a moving target at distance is difficult. The jetski swerves side-to-side, and you even see a shot impact the target, knocking up some black dust but ultimately doing nothing to stop the jetski.

The target arrives at the dock, and despite having a large black wound on his side, leaps out and starts running up the pier to get a shot past the hydrogen tank.

"I guess this is what people call ragdoll physics."

Eh, can't risk it, I'll just insta-kill him.

Shoot him with the rifle.

Initiative
[6] Vax
[4] Guy

[1+2] vs (6): Your bullets lose so much speed travelling through water droplets that they do, well, nothing.

(5) vs [2+2]: On the other hand, the guy's laser still manages to deal some damage to you when he counterfires, popping ANOTHER COOLANT PIPE IN YOUR SUIT.

[Happy Demon]

((I don't know of any other power storage other than ionized sulfuric acid cells (car batteries) and whatever kind of alkaline the AA batteries use. Neither of which are all that efficient.))
((I refuse to use fission though, as then I'd have to find a way to explain waste storage, as their half-life varies from seconds to millennia.))

"F***ing hell."

Kick myself forward, and poke him to death. Try to make as many stabs as possible, to make his death slow.

[_DivideByZero_]

((I don't know of any other power storage other than ionized sulfuric acid cells (car batteries) and whatever kind of alkaline the AA batteries use. Neither of which are all that efficient.))
((I refuse to use fission though, as then I'd have to find a way to explain waste storage, as their half-life varies from seconds to millennia.))

"F***ing hell."

Kick myself forward, and poke him to death. Try to make as many stabs as possible, to make his death slow.

((Supercapacitors, perhaps? They're like batteries, but they hold a lot of power and, more importantly, can charge really fast.))

[SaberToothTiger]

Adjust my position behind the tank and shoot the assailant again.

[Happy Demon]

((Eh? I thought that would be stretching it, capacitors are good at holding charge for extra kick, but power storage?))
((But if you're okay with that, I'll start moving through and editing it then.))

Edit: ((Ok, edited, I could only find 2 with mention of antimatter. Now for some fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Gods of Bob

On Bob, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter aren't considered a season of the year, but rather, gods, as the centuries of isolation has made them ignorant of what those words truly mean.
Though they should know better, many Bobites still believe in such silly tales, much to the annoyance of those who know better.
Spring is responsible for the emergence of life, everything that is born or created comes to life because of her.
Summer is the god of health, skill, and power, all who wish to become great pray to him, so they're more likely to succeed.
Autumn is the god of disease, misfortune, and freaks, people pray to him for mercy, especially when ill, pregnant, or when failure is feared.
Finally there's Winter, the goddess of death, people rarely speak of her, but many make blood sacrifices, for hope of mercy.

[Ama]

"Ok, but after I give it to you I really need you come and talk to the scientists of this place. They really want to know what`s in the cylinder."

Grab the cylinder and bring it back to the Tree.

"Now this way Mister Tree, if you please."

Lead the Tree to the Mantid Manager.

[_DivideByZero_]

((Eh? I thought that would be stretching it, capacitors are good at holding charge for extra kick, but power storage?))
((But if you're okay with that, I'll start moving through and editing it then.))

Edit: ((Ok, edited, I could only find 2 with mention of antimatter. Now for some fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Gods of Bob

On Bob, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter aren't considered a season of the year, but rather, gods, as the centuries of isolation has made them ignorant of what those words truly mean.
Though they should know better, many Bobites still believe in such silly tales, much to the annoyance of those who know better.
Spring is responsible for the emergence of life, everything that is born or created comes to life because of her.
Summer is the god of health, skill, and power, all who wish to become great pray to him, so they're more likely to succeed.
Autumn is the god of disease, misfortune, and freaks, people pray to him for mercy, especially when ill, pregnant, or when failure is feared.
Finally there's Winter, the goddess of death, people rarely speak of her, but many make blood sacrifices, for hope of mercy.

((Supercapacitors aren't currently better than batteries in terms of weight, but they are easy to charge quickly and are likely to improve in the near future. And they are rapidly improving. It's not unbelievable that they'll be better than typical batteries in the future, since graphene leads itself so well to the task and we know how amazing it is for pretty much everything.))

[Happy Demon]

((Um, isn't Graphene one of the best conductors (resistivity of 1)? I thought capacitors got better primarily on the insulating layer. Where Teflon was best.))
((Eh, I probably remember wrong... fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Leap Greaves

Another piece of King's Armory hardware, this is a modular rig fitted onto the legs, the main component is the greaves, which contain thrusters in the soles, and the rest handles pressure dampening and power supply.
It also acts as armored boots, protecting the feet and shins of it's user, without limiting movement... too much.
The main rig itself is made to handle the thruster, not any falls, so it only works on falls up to 3,6 meters, after that, the body has to absorb the rest.
The thruster allows for an extra tall jump (3 meters) or immediate trajectory adjustment midair, though it could also be used to dampen landings, making falls of 18 meters survivable without injuries.
The recharge time is 2 seconds. All stats for performance is with both greaves active, one greave is not recommended for beginners, as you'd most likely be flipped over.

Capacitor Upgrade extends the recharge time to 7 seconds, but allows 6 meter leaps and 51 meter falls, it has to be installed separately for each greave.
Extra Thruster adds a thruster to the outer side of a greave, it extends recharge time by 150%, it isn't as powerful as the main thruster, but gives a boost in performance.
Longburn extends the thrust duration, it allows levitation for 3 seconds, with the Capacitor Upgrade this duration is 10 seconds.
Longburn combined with Extra Thruster allows moving upwards in Earth gravity for the duration of the levitation.
The Talon Upgrade adds blades to the feet, for climbing and adding deadliness to your kicks (oh you got a blade shoe? I have a pair).

Cuisses is an extension that covers the rest of the lower body, waist down, it allows more upgrades to be fitted, and provides armor.
The Cat Rig enhances the shock absorption with many dampeners along the legs, which protects the legs from breaking from a terminal velocity fall, but you should still use the thrusters to slow down.
Power Cell Upgrade increases the capacity and voltage of the power supply, tripling the recharge speed of all components, it's housed on the outside of the thighs.
The Flight Capacitor, housed in the backside of the pelvis (your a**) can store a big charge, allowing constant thrust for 10 minutes, but requires an hour to recharge, doubling all other recharges during that time.
The Icarus Upgrade modifies the Cuisses' plating to make it act like fins, and fits an array of smaller thrusters, doubling thrust, and enhancing mobility, it's often used with the Flight Capacitor.

A fully upgraded set of Leap Greaves allows great leaps, and 5 minutes of flight every hour.

[_DivideByZero_]

((Graphene is both a good conductor and an insulator if you layer it right, at least judging from a cursory Google search.

It can literally be used for anything. Humans of the future will probably eat graphene-enhanced food for all I know.))

[Happy Demon]

((Fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Battle Cuirass

The Battle Cuirass is a piece of King's Armory hardware, combined with Power Gauntlets, Leap Greaves, and Combat Crown, it makes a full set of armor.
It's bulletproof torso armor, and can be enhanced with a variety of upgrades, extensions, and modules.
The Ventilation Unit places a number of fans in the armor, which can be connected to a Combat Crown to keep you cool in hot areas, it can also do the reverse, keeping you warm in cold areas.
The Ventilation Unit also places an intake unit on the back, which also houses other upgrades.
The Faulds extension adds armor to the pelvis, and hooks the Battle Cuirass up with the Leap Greaves (if they have the Cuisses extension).

Pauldron extensions give shoulder armor, and hooks the Battle Cuirass with the Power Gauntlets (if the Boxer Rig is installed).
While the primary task of the Battle Cuirass is protection, it can also work to assist the other parts.
A Combat Awareness Module adds various sensors and scanners, to give more information on the Combat Crown's HUD, including armor status.
Void Survival Rig expands the Ventilation Unit to include a gas tank, for breathing in space, and seals the gaps in the armor.
The Soldier Rig adds a variety of movement enhancers onto the torso and neck, to make it a complete power armor, and increase effectiveness of the rest of the parts.

Jetpack adds thrusters for maneuvering in space, but cannot lift you in gravity on their own, but in conjunction with Leap Boots, they enhance maneuverability.
The Battle Cuirass' plating is also modified so it can act as fins, for even better maneuverability.
The Main Power Supply module adds an array of supercapacitors onto the Ventilation Unit, which greatly increase the performance of all other connected hardware.
If a Main Power Supply is fitted, then the Leap Graves can do constant flight, and Power Gauntlets can keep the Rapid Charger on all the time.
The Ironclad Upgrade increases the armor of the Battle Cuirass and all connected parts.

There's the Shield Unit, which is really expensive, includes it's own array of capacitors, and the projected shield can deflect almost any handheld weapon fire.
The Chameleon Unit is even more expensive, creating an optical neutral field around the wearer, making light pass through, turning them invisible.
But the most expensive is the Blink Rig, which adds a lot of electronic hardware to allow operation, the Blink Rig lets the user teleport up to 20 meters away every 5 seconds.
Finally there's the Hunter Rig, which adds a wide variety of tools onto the Battle Cuirass and connected parts.
Grappling hooks, climbing claws, magnet gloves, sound dampening, etc. the Hunter Rig is primarily made for stealth.

((Ah, finished the King's Armory's power armor, might add other parts later.))
Edit: ((The fluff train must go on.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spikebrows

Among the Bobite mutants, Spikebrows is common for the Werecat and Ultra Werewolf descendants, but they have a slight difference.
Spikebrows is when the middle (horizontally) of each eyebrow becomes thin (vertically), creating a low part which is 0,4-0,7 cm wide.
On each side of this low part, the eyebrows are up to 3 mm taller at their peaks, this is where the name comes from, and it has a ^ shape.
Werecat Spikebrows are also called Crescent Spikebrows, as their low part is curved.
The Ultra Werewolf Spikebrows, most often named the Jagged Spikebrows, they have a V shape, creating a sort of zigzag pattern.

Only the top part of the eyebrows are affected, the bottom parts are completely normal.
It's a birthmark, and it's very common, it's not significant enough to be called a subtype though.

[_DivideByZero_]

Port Anchorage, Northern Ridge, Askarian | 233d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Askarian Shores
Snow (Low visibility. Actions toward distant objects incur a small penalty based on distance)
Freezing Wind (-1 to all actions when exposed)

Adjust my position behind the tank and shoot the assailant again.

[6/4] You slip as you run around the tank, landing face-first in the water. This entices the rest of the platform's occupants--the officer, pilot, and engineer, as well as the repairmen--to follow suit, plunging into the sea and floating in their suits. They begin to dive like mad, and the officer and engineer both demonstrate proficiency in diving inside a suit full of air, but the pilot is hit, and you see bubbles coming out of a hole in his suit whenever it goes under the water.

Pilot: "Hit!"

The underside of the dock turns out to be more rich on cover, having not only the water to protect your lower half, but many pontoons, struts, and baffles to hide behind. The others quickly start heading under, while you take potshots at the assassin with a shotgun. [4] You force the assassin to take cover behind your spaceplane.

...

Habitat Ship Gamma, Askarian Orbit | 233d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Urban Station
City Manners (-1 to first impressions)

"Ok, but after I give it to you I really need you come and talk to the scientists of this place. They really want to know what`s in the cylinder."

Grab the cylinder and bring it back to the Tree.

The tree whisks away the cylinder and tears it in half before you could continue to direct it toward the manager.

"At long last, I have been freed!" you hear in a much clearer voice, emanating from the object which has just falled out of the container.

It appears to be a wooden carving of a face out of a small log, albeit a crude one, with two circular eyes and a lip-less, frowning crescent shaped mouth.

The tree inserts the head within an owl-hole inside its trunk. Strange, because there aren't owls here. You wonder why humans still call them that.

"Now this way Mister Tree, if you please."

Lead the Tree to the Mantid Manager.

The manager shows him, having hear a noise from outside. The cylinder being torn in half wasn't very loud, but perhaps Mantids are more sensitive to noise, being a combat organism and all that.

"What is that noise? And--woah."
The mantis-man stumbles back as the tree's drown noticeably rotates.
"Di-did you... you were really serious about a talking tree, weren't you?" he addresses you.
"Indeed," replies the tree.
"But I am no tree. For centuries I have been in the hands of that retched collective. My home is the forest, not a container. Now that I have been freed by this noble alien, I must demand that you take me to a world where I can live in harmony with nature."

You notice more of the golden dust swirling around the base of the tree. Some of it is emanating from the owl-hole containing the head. You also smell smoke.

"Protocol does not permit us to contaminate life on Marine-class worlds and subtypes. If you wish to live on a Terran, you'll have to plant yourself there. We can... uh... drop you off on an Arean, though."
"I have no place in the desert."

...

The Jolly Roger, Franz| 238d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Zero Gravity
All items have no weight penalty.

Zero-G Flood
Laser weapons suffer a -2 penalty
All weapons have -1 accuracy

Initiative
[5+1] Vax
[2] Guy

Thanks to your initiative roll and advantage over the target, you score a critical hit through the helm, but stop just at the face so that the crewman scrambles around coughing. You actually broke the visor so you could get a good shot at the face, not to stop him from breathing... it turns out the humidity in the room has gotten so high that a human can drown just by breathing.

The crewman ends up bumping into a computer and getting electrocuted.

[SaberToothTiger]

Take careful aim and wait for the asshat to look out of his cover, then pump him with lead.

[Happy Demon]

Walk around looting and stabbing crewmen, focus on getting a laser rifle, whatever ammo they use, and if anyone has grenades, take them too.

Hm... if I destroy these computers, then the railgun would shut down. No wait, that sounds too much like a movie cliche... but maybe.

Use the radio to contact others.

"Hey, there's some sort of super computer room here, tons of cables and tubes, and some corpses (love my job). Anyway, should I break these?"

[Happy Demon]

((More fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fall Zones

On Bob there are places where non-military people aren't allowed to go, under any circumstance, these are called Fall Zones.
Originally it was because an area was saturated with radiation, this often happened because of fallout, so that's where they got the name from.
Now it's used for many things, from bio-hazard outbreaks, to radiation saturation. Fall Zones are heavily monitored, as Bobites are very curious.
The main reason they keep Bobites away is in fear of them becoming genetically altered, either becoming a bio-hazard, or getting freak children.
Bobites are scared to death of genetic defects, just the sight of an albino is enough to make most Bobites either flee or attack them.

This is strange, considering they're mutants (even the Sludges are mutants, though they're just called Sludge).

[_DivideByZero_]

Walk around looting and stabbing crewmen, focus on getting a laser rifle, whatever ammo they use, and if anyone has grenades, take them too.

Hm... if I destroy these computers, then the railgun would shut down. No wait, that sounds too much like a movie cliche... but maybe.

Use the radio to contact others.

"Hey, there's some sort of super computer room here, tons of cables and tubes, and some corpses (love my job). Anyway, should I break these?"

Charles: Yea I say break the--
Steve: You should mind the ship's machine intelligence. They don't take kindly to having their auxiliary processing banks destroyed.
Charles: Why would an AI get emotional?
Steve: Because I've been trying to get it to join us as we speak. She's quite a nice person, really.
Charles: You said machine intelligence? We'd have to get its brain off the ship if we wanted to save it.
Steve: That would be a possibility, if we could convince it to join us.
Charles: Then convince it!
Steve: I'm trying... Vax, you have clearance to destroy weapons control computers and processing units but not memory banks. That would interfere with the M.I. and probably trigger the security drones.