Archetype Analysis: The Exotic Weapons

The Swarm - Exotic Weapons

Power comes at a price, many prices really, and to the people that make the decisions of war, moral is far down on the importance list. Efficacy, manufacturing time, and yes, actual monetary cost are all leagues more important to them. The Exotic Weapons core rides that line. They can't be deployed with haste, given their limited numbers. For every one made, dozens of standard troops could be outfitted. They require particularly rare metals and organics.

However, every one you see on the battlefield has proven itself worth those costs.

From left to right.

The R-777, formerly a helpful environmental bot in the R.U.R, it is designed to traverse any terrain to collect and contain toxic byproducts that might damage the transforming effort, a shining sign of a cleaner tomorrow, which has been made into a thing of horror today. Part of their formerly seamless hull has been replaced with a grill, allowing the 777 to project a swarm of near molten flechettes that have proven very effective at perforating all kinds of armour, making the target even more vulnerable to the main event. One of it's long, segmented, legs reaches into the open port on the top, pulling out a small canister., which it throws with mechanical precision.  The exact nature of the horrific concoction changes over time, but it always contains such vile substances as: heavy metals, trace radioactive, acids, flammable liquids, and more. If there were such a thing as the Geneva conventions here, the 777 would be breaking so many of them.

Next, a far less imposing figure, but that can be dangerous in an of itself. The Isiguli, silent assassin of the Monster Makers. The most complicated (successful) bio-plan they've yet made, this creature is resistant to both visual and thermal scanning, while also able to climb on nearly any surface. Combining the camouflage ability's of several animals (and some custom improvements) it can mimic not just colour and pattern, but texture as well. You could touch a hiding Isiguli and never even notice. Their only weapon is a kind of projectile spit, similar to the archerfish but much more powerful. The spit itself is the secret weapon, a powerful paralytic that both degrades the nerves and can stop the heart. If that wasn't bad enough, it's saturated in various heavy elements that are part of the Isiguli's diet, letting it disrupt electric signals and corrode metal, leaving the beast not totally helpless against purely mechanical foes. The most insidious thing about it is how the thick liquid seems to unerringly find even the smallest gaps in armour, almost as if it had a mind of its own.

Finally, the most straight forward but durable threat, the Foundry Slagger. Equipped with the heaviest Exo-Frame the Steel Legion can produce, further augmented with two industrial rated shields, controlled by a direct neural link. Even other members of this archetype will find most of their attacks just splashing off the Slagger. Moreover, the suits immense bulk allows it to carry a truly devastating weapon, the MOL Launcher. Able to fire large globules of molten metal in arcs, even if it misses the splash can still severely wound anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby. The Steel Legion is always hesitant to deploy a Slagger, not just for the immense cost in doing so, but because they are a threat to the integrity of the very stations they fight on!