Joker Quest: Armoury 4.6.1

You are ANON, the RED JOKER.

HP: 160.0% (260.0%, with CYBELE'S EMBLEM)
COBALT BOOSTER: 150%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 150%
METER: 12% (TIER ONE WEAPONRY UNLOCKED)

The following is a summary of your arsenal thus far:

ARMOUR:

The RED JOKER power armour combines both mobility and defensive capability, with interlocking crimson plates of a ferro-fibrous alloy over an endosteel core. While not as comprehensively protective as heavier grades of armour (Notably, Player-grade ceramite, black steel and adamantite), the frame's internal structure has been reinforced with bonded ceramite and plasteel weave, with an enhanced myomer musculature system that has significantly increased the armour's overall resilience.

While the RED JOKER'S power source is currently unknown, the armour boasts substantial firepower in the form of a predominantly plasma-powered array of weapons - Now further augmented by multiple upgrades.

Your armour now integrates a secondary COBALT BOOSTER reactor - Bolstered by the GNOSIS ENGINE upgrade - an INTERCEPTOR SYSTEM, and an enhanced cooling array. Also, you have obtained the ASSAULT SHROUD Relic for another layer of defence - And, most recently, a TEMPEST SCRANDER flight pack.

After receiving the ZENITH UPGRADE, the RED JOKER armour has undergone significant refinement, with the frame concealing a double-strength myomer network (Now expanded with a dense weave for greater tensile strength) and additional charging elements beneath the armour's plating.

Your left arm's hardpoints mount the SINISTRAL shield generator, and the ARGUS SYSTEM sensor suite. Conversely, your right arm sports the HELIX GAUNTLET - The setting for the NIHL SPHERE - and the emitters/suspensors of the CRISIS ARM.

At present, you can utilize two charging elements: One in each gauntlet.


PRIMARY WEAPON:

PLASMA VULCANS (LEVEL 3.)

Your signature weapons, the paired gatling cannons are stored in your armor's forearms when not in use. When deployed, the protective sheaths retract, allowing the guns to 'pop up' for rapid fire. The firing mechanisms are stirrup-grips clenched in your fists, preventing your hands from being used while your gatlings are deployed.

LEVEL 2 UPGRADE: Your Gatlings have been upgraded to double-barrelled Plasma Vulcans, transitioning from solid-slugs to energy bolts. The new munitions have significantly higher firepower than their initial form.

LEVEL 3 UPGRADE: Your Plasma Vulcans have been further upgraded with advanced heat sinks and coolant circulators, to better regulate waste heat buildup. This allows increased accuracy, and substantially more powerful shots.

SPECIAL:

When empowered by the COBALT BOOSTER, the munitions fired are of smaller gauge, but substantially higher velocity and anti-armour properties. Boosted shots can go *through* an enemy's armour, at close range, or through soft cover.

NOVA CANNON:

Also known as the TAU GUN, this massive, double-barrelled monstrosity of a weapon resembles a 'H' turned on its side, bristling with thick cables and the fractal tracery of industrial-strength heat sinks. Well-sculpted with narrow fins and vanes, the waste energies it produces - Even in standby mode - churns the air around with to a full, roiling boil, the charging elements within at a constant smoulder.

In marked contrast to the rapid-fire devastation of your Plasma Vulcans, the NOVA CANNON is a specialized single-shot gun; When both triggers are depressed, this weapon releases a low-gauge beam of charged particles (Also known as the 'tracing beam), which energizes the passage between itself and the target.

A split-second later, it releases an compressed projectile of antimatter, which - On impact - acts as a quantum destabilizer, violently interfering with the fundamental interactions of matter as it converts the target's mass to energy. The stresses caused by this reaction results in the explosive disintegration of the target.

While highly destructive, the Nova Cannon has a substantial delay between blasts, resulting in a low rate of fire. Due to the weapon's massive energy requirements, it cannot be used simultaneously with your Plasma Vulcans.

(tl;dr - The Nova Cannon is a heavy-duty, cumbersome weapon that replaces your Plasma Vulcans, when selected. It fires once per action, releasing a weak targeting ray that 'tags' the target - And, after a brief delay, an antimatter blast that makes it *explode*. A direct hit does *hideous* damage, but it's hampered by a heavy reliance on accuracy (The affected area is relatively small) and long recharge times.)

SPECIAL:

When empowered by the COBALT BOOSTER, the initial targeting beam gains range and cutting power. While the antimatter projectile cannot be enhanced further, the COBALT BOOSTER'S charge reduces the time it takes the capacitors to cycle, decreasing the delay between shots.

CRISIS ARM:

The Crisis Arm is a power fist composed of superdense alloy - The kind used in the construction of Cherubim-class Hellions. When manifested, gravimetric suspensors support the titanic weight - Allowing the user to throw punches of appalling force. When focused on a single target, the directed-gravity system can be disabled just before impact - Ensuring that the opponent takes the full force of the blow.

Due to the tremendous energy requirements of the Crisis Arm, it gradually drains the user's Meter or Cobalt Booster while in use: However, due to some unknowable interaction with your Player signature, the Crisis Arm cannot be disabled by countermeasures, or otherwise taken from you.

SPECIAL:

When empowered by the COBALT BOOSTER, directional verniers ignite along the Crisis Arm's surface, as the integrated gravity impactor begins to rapidly accumulate charge. This allows the next blow to be delivered with a point-blank detonation of gravimetric force, warping and distorting the target.

IMMOLATOR:

This huge, chromed handgun sports two barrels - One atop the other - the second of a greater bore. An array of cooling fins and thick cables - complete with a lurid green pilot light - snake from the frame, connecting it to your armour's generators when in use.

The Immolator handgun is a specialized incendiary weapon, with two distinct firing modes. When fired, the Immolator handgun projects a swirling cone of expanding flames, unleashing a ferocious inferno at close-to-medium range. Being engulfed in fire isn't immediately deadly to heavily-armoured Players, but the resulting inferno inflicts heavy damage to exposed systems and vulnerable components.

In secondary-fire mode, the Immolator functions like a conventional firearm, launching charged bolts that explode into plumes of red-yellow flame upon impact. In this mode, the Immolator's rounds have good armour penetration: If a bolt lodges itself in the target before detonating, the resulting blast can do severe internal damage.

The Immolator is notoriously volatile: If exposed to energy fire, or severely damaged, there's a chance that the weapon may catastrophically explode.

SPECIAL:

When primed by the COBALT BOOSTER, the Immolator's pilot light flickers blue - The barrels warping slightly, wisps of brimstone smoke drifting up from them. The Immolator's primary firing mode now unleashes a blast of pellucid blue flame: A chemical fire that *clings* to targets as it incinerates them, with the properties - And the tenacity - of napalm. Notably, the empowered Immolator can consume materials that would normally be resistant to fire: Given time, the flames can chew through metal or stone.

In secondary-fire mode, the Immolator's already-volatile bolts are supercharged - Upon impact, each shot erupts into a concussive fireball, capable of blasting targets off their feet. The shockwave expands in a small radius from the point of impact, which can cause collateral damage to - Or ignite - those in the vicinity. (This includes the firer, if he isn't careful.)


SECONDARY WEAPONS:

The following weapons are maglocked to your armour - As Hellion weaponry, they require 'priming', and contact with the charging elements in your gauntlets, to be activated. You can carry two Light Weapons and a single Heavy Weapon.

(Currently, Argent Prominence has a ION BLASTER, PHASE SWORD and GRAVITON CANNON.)

At present, you carry:

ION BLASTER:

PRIMED WITH LIGHT FUSION CELL

Blocky and angular, with a distinctive revolving barrel, this semi-automatic firearm generates white-cored ion blasts at a constant firing rate. The unique design means that the superheated gases vented after each shot cycles the barrel, allowing the weapon to function for longer periods without overheating. The ionic bolts released are especially effective at disrupting energy barriers, and can intercept similar projectiles - Assuming sufficient accuracy on the Player's part.

ARC GUN:

PRIMED WITH LIGHT FUSION CELL

Vaguely reminiscent of an oversized taser pistol, this compact firearm lacks a barrel - Sporting a complex emitter array in it's place. When fired, launches a crackling blast of lightning, forking to strike adjacent targets on impact - Before recharging for another shot. While significantly less powerful than the Tempest Scrander's charge, the Arc Gun can also be fired much more frequently.

GRAVITON CANNON:

HEAVY WEAPON

PRIMING: 25% Cobalt Booster

When fired, this heavy weapon generates micropockets of intense gravity within a target - Violently compressing and tearing it through gravitational force. The effect covers a vaguely circular area, as if an invisible spherical weight is grinding into the earth; Targets capable of resisting the gravity effect usually find themselves momentarily slowed and disorientated by the crushing force.

A single-shot weapon, there's a substantial delay between each shot, as the gravimetric charge gathers cohesion - Not meant for long-term use, multiple shots can result in the implosion of the drive core.

VOID ANCHOR:

A wonder of miniaturization technology, the Void Anchor is a scaled-down version of the Hollow Sun's extractors, incorporating modified resonator technology. Physically, it resembles a compact matte-black disc about a foot across, with a glowing line circling the inner edge. The outer edge flares with a nimbus of light as Essence is absorbed, causing faint but visible ripples in the air when moved.

The Void Anchor has two distinct and separate functions, detailed in the Hollow Sun Guide.

SPECIAL WEAPONS:

TIER ONE

TRISKELION LAUNCHER: 3%/Missile.

An auxiliary missile launcher, mounted on your left arm; It's capable of launching up to six dumbfire missiles at once, though barrages can be fired in rapid succession.

LEVEL 2:

You now have paired back-mounted missile launchers, capable of launching up to eight semi-guided rockets at once. (Four per launcher, for the same cost of 3% per meter.) The missiles now count as indirect fire.

SPECIAL:

When empowered by the COBALT BOOSTER, your missiles change their payload from fragmentation warheads to incendiaries, exploding in gouts of pellucid blue flame. While Player armour tends to be resistant to napalm, the actinic chemical fires cover a substantial area, and burn furiously when exposed to air.

When used in conjunction with the ARGUS SYSTEM, your missiles have increased tracking properties - Homing in on the target, as long as a radar lock is sustained.

PLASMA CASTER: (10%/Projectile.)

A powerful close-range cannon, which fires a massive short-range blast of cohered plasma. The blast rapidly disperses, rendering it ineffective at long range; However, it's a lethal infighting weapon, hampered by a substantial 'cooldown' time.

LEVEL 2 UPGRADE:

The Plasma Caster now utilizes the same systems as your primary Vulcans. The spread has been reduced by a 'smart-choke', allowing the delivery of a greater payload at a longer effective range.

...It's still pretty much a Plasma Shotgun, though.

SPECIAL:

When the COBALT BOOSTER is used, the enhanced Plasma Caster fires an expanding blast of high-velocity energy scattershot. This has a larger, less focused spread than a standard Caster blast, but possesses armor-penetrating properties - At close range, the photonic burst can set the target on fire.


TIER TWO (AVAILABLE AT 30% METER.)

FUSION ANNIHILATOR: (4%/Charge, 6 Charges possible.)

A Fusion beam array that accumulates charge - Before releasing it in a massive, matter-annihilating ray. The greater the number of Charges accumulated, the greater the size and duration of the beam; However, it takes a brief period for the Annihilator to cycle up to full charge, and a little longer to fire.

It's not advisable to 'hold' charges for too long; The Annihilator is a highly volatile weapon, and will discharge explosively if damaged.

SPECIAL:

When enhanced by the COBALT BOOSTER, the Annihilator cycles charges faster, unleashing a significantly more powerful blast when fired. In this instance, the ray created has photonic properties, rather than plasma - Resembling a scaled-up version of the TYRANT BURST system's third firing mode.

However, the Fusion Annihilator is even more volatile in this state; Any damage to Annihilator will likely result in a catastrophic explosion, when the charging element is breached.

After encountering and activating the Manifold Tower, your Fusion Annihilator has been upgraded with armoured feeder cables and three linked accumulators. Now, the Fusion Annihilator accumulates energy faster and is significantly less volatile as a weapon - Allowing you to 'hold' charges without penalty.

Furthermore, the Annihilator can now discharge individual blasts in rapid succession, as an alternative to unleashing a single focused beam.

(tl;dr - The Fusion Annihilator is now double-barreled, incorporating three charging elements in a rotating array. You can choose between:
- Firing multiple Level 1 shots.
- Firing all charges at once, in a focused beam.

You can switch freely between both firing modes.)


PHALANX CHAIN MINE: (20%/Projectile.)

A fire-and-forget weapon, this multi-stage warhead is meant for the wholesale destruction of a single target. Once within range, it scatters proximity-fused magnetic explosives over a wide area, which will attempt to home in on the target before detonating. In contrast to the Triskelion Launcher, the chain mines use anti-armour munitions - Reducing the blast radius, but greatly increasing the damage inflicted.

SPECIAL:

When enhanced by the COBALT BOOSTER, the anti-armour payload is replaced by incendiaries: The eerie, seething spheres of blue flame released by the initial detonation are drawn to life readings, rather than magnetic materials, resulting in significantly improved tracking abilities. Notably, they burn hot enough to momentarily disrupt sensors that track heat or energy signatures, though they're less effective against heavily armoured targets.

When used in conjunction with the ARGUS SYSTEM, the tracking ability of the anti-armour munitions is greatly increased - Homing in on the target, as long as a hard lock is sustained.


TIER THREE (AVAILABLE AT 60% METER)

LONGINUS RAILGUN SYSTEM: (15% Meter/Shot.)

Materializes the Longinus Railgun - A hypervelocity magnetic accelerator, which fires superdense Gauss projectiles at incredible speeds. The projectiles are inert, but that's because making them explosive would be redundant.

Has tremendous range and killing power, at 15% Meter a shot; Especially good against barriers and armor. Up to two shots can be fired in rapid succession - However, with each successive shot, there's a minor risk of a catastrophic malfunction. Ideally, the user will wait for a brief 'cooling off' period before the railgun can be fired again.

It's meant to be fired from a braced position, especially at extreme distances - But it can also be fired from the hip, for slightly less damage at shorter ranges. (The projectiles need time to reach terminal velocity, accounting for their reduced effect at short ranges.)

SPECIAL:

The Longinus Railgun cannot be enhanced by the COBALT BOOSTER. (Or rather, given the nature of the weapon, any further enhancement would be redundant.)

When used in conjunction with the ARGUS SYSTEM - Through a combination of the system's tracking function and predictive capabilities - a target lock allows for greater accuracy at long ranges. Also, you can now fire at targets concealed by soft cover or out of line-of-sight, as long as the ARGUS SYSTEM can sustain the lock.


TIER FOUR (AVAILABLE AT 100% METER)

QUANTUM SINGULARITY CANNON:

This bizarre weapon appears to be put together from an odd combination of the rest of your arsenal - The Longinus Railgun's aiming array, the Plasma Caster's charging coils, the Fusion Annihilator's stabilizers...The list goes on. However, the weapon's reaction is fuelled by a mysterious black 'core' sealed within the Red Joker's armour, the properties of which are unknown.

Quite simply, this weapon - when fired - creates a black hole. After a substantial delay, a point of absolute *nothing* is created at the target area: It rapidly expands, consuming all matter around it, and drawing everything into the vicinity within itself.

While possibly the most lethal weapon in your arsenal, it has several drawbacks besides the incredibly high meter cost: There's a substantial 'wind-up' before the vortex is unleashed, and the effects of a misfire are too terrible to think about. Also, unlike a true black hole, the singularity created draws on surrounding matter to fuel itself - It might not be *quite* as spectacularly destructive when used on a smaller target. (Though it's still likely to be hilariously lethal to the intended target.)

Furthermore, targets destroyed by the Singularity Cannon are utterly annihilated - They have no chance to drop Relics, and their empowering essence (Green motes of light) is similarly consumed by the hungering nothing.


CODEBURSTS:

With your ACCESS AUTHORITY upgraded by the HOLLOW SUN, you now have access to the following CODEBURSTS: System commands that create specific and bizarre effects.

CODEBURSTS can be fuelled by the COBALT BOOSTER, or the energies of the NIHL SPHERE.

EXEC_BARRIER:

When activated, this Codeburst manifests a barrier of interlocking fractal shapes around the user, in a perfect hemisphere. This reactive barrier assimilates incoming viral code streams, nullifying the properties of the last Codeburst directed at it by suspending it in a null state. The resulting field acts as a countermeasure to reality-rending effects, protecting the user's personal Essence signature from disruption or corruption via external means. While expensive to sustain, EXEC_BARRIER is the first and most basic level of defence against such phenomena.

(tl;dr - When EXEC_BARRIER is active, it draws on your COBALT BOOSTER to nullify incoming codebursts.)

(COST: 10% COBALT BOOSTER UPKEEP, 1/2 of the incoming Codeburst.)

EXEC_CONSUME:

This Codeburst exists as the primary function of your HELIX GAUNTLET. When activated, the Gauntlet ignites with a distinctive violet glow, manifesting crackling talons of cohered light - As long as physical contact is maintained with a target, the Gauntlet begins to absorb the subject's Essence, functioning as a channel for the Nihl Sphere.

A portion of the siphoned Essence is converted into vital energies - Gradually replenishing the user's HP and Meter.

(COST: 20% COBALT BOOSTER)

EXEC_DICTUM:

This Codeburst temporarily boosts your System Access rating, allowing you to exload a command signal - An override of the highest authority and clarity, long enough to give a command that must be obeyed.

When activated, you can speak a single word, momentarily overriding the target's ability to control his Player form: While this happens instantaneously, a Player with a higher System Access rating may be more resistant to your command. EXEC_DICTUM works best when the opposing Player is surprised - A Player previously targeted in the same encounter, or 'on guard', may not be as comprehensively affected.

Notably, Correctors are not affected by EXEC_DICTUM: They lack the capacity to process the command signal, even subconsciously.

(COST: 60% COBALT BOOSTER.)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, this Codeburst costs 48% Cobalt Booster.

EXEC_DISRUPT:

When invoked, this Codeburst abruptly overrides the protocols that allow an enemy Player to manifest Relics and weapons - Momentarily disarming them, and 'locking out' the item for a time. Certain Relics may be especially resilient against this, as are Players with a higher System Access Authority than yours.

(COST: 75% COBALT BOOSTER.)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, this Codeburst costs 60% Cobalt Booster.

EXEC_HARROW:

Upon activation, this Codeburst manifests your personal emblem - Unleashing it at the enemy as a directed projectile. Upon impact, the blast sears into the target, branding it with a distinctive visual and sensor tag known as a 'deathmark'.

While not highly damaging, the resulting mark ensures a constant target lock as long as the enemy within range of your senses. (Even if the enemy would otherwise be obscured.) On command - With a snap of your fingers - you can detonate EXEC_HARROW, causing the deathmark to erupt in a point-blank detonation of energy, partly fuelled by the target's own essence.

Also, EXEC_HARROW can be used to scorch your 'mark' onto a nearby surface. (This effect is strictly a visual one - i.e. It does no significant harm.)

(COST: 50% COBALT BOOSTER for primary function, 10-20% for secondary.)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, this Codeburst costs 40% Cobalt Booster. The minor manifestation now costs a flat 10%.

EXEC_REAP

At the moment of a Player's destruction, a brief window exists between the dissipation of the Essence charge and the disintegration of the armoured shell. When activated, this Codeburst allows you to glean information straight from the dying, reaping the data directly from their stored memory - By staring into their optic sensors/eyes and focusing on the subject of your inquiry.

It should be noted that all answers are relative to the Player in question: If the Player lacked the relevant knowledge, only silence will follow - And while the decaying armour lacks the capacity for deceit, there's the chance that inaccurate information might be passed on.

Generally, you can ask one question per destroyed Player, before their signal loses cohesion: Two, if you're lucky.

(i.e. This Codeburst allows you to 'speed-read' through a Player's recorded sensor data, with a focus on the subject of your inquiry.)

(COST: 80% COBALT BOOSTER)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, this Codeburst costs 60% Cobalt Booster to activate.

EXEC_REND:

This binary invocation creates a momentary 'tear' in the fabric of the Red World - A reality-rip that overlaps with your position, for a split-second. The resulting juxtaposition allows the force of a single incoming attack to be dispersed into the 'real world' with bizarre and highly unnatural consequences, potentially resulting in collateral damage...But effectively negating the attack, which goes right *through* you as you 'blink out' of the way.

Notably, a displacement occurs if your former position is now occupied by solid matter when the effect ends - A minor distance, usually just far enough to prevent a catastrophic reaction.

Due to the spatial-warping properties of this specific Codeburst, the cost is exceedingly high.

(COST: 100% COBALT BOOSTER.)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, this Codeburst costs 80% Cobalt Booster.

EXEC_REPULSE:

When activated, this binary invocation creates an electromagnetic pulse - A barrier that violently repulses everything in the vicnity as it expands, cause the air to arc and crackle with charged energies.

The ring's radius extends for roughly ten feet in every direction, though the exact distance constantly fluctuates; After the initial blast, the distortion field remains, disrupting nearby systems. EXEC_REPULSE is an active force: It can and does decrease in intensity in one area in order to actively lash out at nearby targets.

Players in the vicnity tend to 'seize up' if not sufficiently protected, slowing down while within the reach of the barrier. Correctors experience severe discomfort within the area of effect, until they're forced out of the radius.

(COST: 100% COBALT BOOSTER, 20% COBALT BOOSTER UPKEEP.)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, the initial activation costs 80% Cobalt Booster. The upkeep remains unchanged.

EXEC_SMITE

A detonation of raw code in the crudest form, this Codeburst is anything but subtle: When activated, it creates a blaze of insane geometry cut from liquid light - Visibly distorting and compressing the targeted area - before erupting in a blast of something not quite fire, not quite lightning. The resulting explosion has a devastating effect on anything in the vicinity, but (curiously) has no concussive force.

Notably, this invocation requires no gestures or charging elements to activate: Targeting is entirely visual. (i.e. - If you can see it, you can make it explode.) There is a brief lag before the resulting explosion, however: The effect can be detected, if you know what you're looking for.

(COST: 130% COBALT BOOSTER)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, this Codeburst costs 104% Cobalt Booster to activate.

EXEC_SWARM:

This Codeburst creates a ravenous swarm of armour-consuming parasites - Vaguely reminiscent of locusts - to devour any enemy within line of sight. While individually weak, the sheer weight of their numbers can be substantial; Also, the summoned swarm is surprisingly resilient to physical force.

Due to the need for 'raw material', this invocation usually drains HP - However, you can use the highly adaptable nanomaterial of your Assault Shroud instead.

(COST: 50% COBALT BOOSTER and 20% HP - Or 35% ASSAULT SHROUD.)

SPECIAL: When used in conjunction with the HELIX GAUNTLET, this Codeburst costs 40% Cobalt Booster. The supplementary costs remain the same.

EXEC_VERBATIM

An expression of CYBELE'S powers of imitation, EXEC_VERBATIM has to be used at the same time as another Codeburst. Immediately after the first Codeburst activates, this invocation allows you to mimic the function *again* - Effectively copying the ability, at a reduced cost.

(i.e. - If you cast EXEC_SMITE, while augmented by EXEC_VERBATIM, you can IMMEDIATELY cast EXEC_SMITE again - At a total cost of 154% Cobalt Booster, instead of 260%)

(COST: 50% COBALT BOOSTER)

SPECIAL: EXEC_VERBATIM'S cost cannot be reduced by the HELIX GAUNTLET, as it draws power directly from CYBELE herself.


MISCELLANEOUS:

ARGUS SYSTEM:

A miracle of miniaturization, the module for the Argus System appears to be nothing more than a multi-faceted green gem: However, upon examination, it appears to contain a sophisticated sensor suite that interfaces directly with the user's armour - Combining the functionality of radar and sonar. When activated, the module begins to emit a directed sensor sweep that radiates outwards in the indicated direction, 'tagging' and identifying targets. The tracking function allows for limited homing capabilities, as the user can now fire at where the enemy *will be*.

While the sensor sweep can potentially be detected, the millimetre-wave is capable of piercing through most of the Red World's materials - Specifically, materials that aren't reflective or superdense.

The ARGUS SYSTEM slowly drains Meter or Cobalt Booster while in use.

ARSENAL BEACON

A rectangular, heavily reinforced carrying case, the Arsenal Beacon is surprisingly light for it's bulk. Built around a compact (but powerful) matter-transfer array, the Arsenal Beacon allows the user remote access to the armoury of the Hollow Sun - teleporting weapons directly to the Beacon's integrated receiver.

When primed, the Beacon's user can teleport any Light/Melee/Heavy Weapon from the Hollow Sun to the combat container. After a brief delay - Where the Arsenal Beacon crackles with a baleful (And highly visible) violet light, the weapon can be withdrawn from the receiver compartment and utilized. It takes a slightly longer time for Heavy Weapons to arrive - Lighter weapons, in contrast, arrive almost instantaneously.

The Arsenal Beacon can be carried in one-hand, or mag-clamped to the user's back.

(tl;dr - By expending 10% COBALT BOOSTER, you can use the Arsenal Beacon to retrieve any weapon from the Hollow Sun. Note that the combat teleportation effect is one-way only: You can't use the Beacon to *send* things to the Hollow Sun.

Alternatively, by expending 40% COBALT BOOSTER, you can teleport in as many weapons as you want, withdrawing them from the Arsenal Beacon one at a time. You can also freely change your weapon loadout 'off-screen' at any time - Even when you don't have access to the Hollow Sun.)

ASSAULT SHROUD 2.0:

A nanomaterial reservoir, in the form of a long coat/duster made of tessellated hexagons. It provides a kind of ablative armour, reducing the effect of enemy attacks.

After Argent Prominence's upgrade, the Assault Shroud's nanomaterial reserves now begin at 150% capacity. The Shroud is a potent defense against impact and low-velocity assaults; Reinforced by silver filaments, the Assault Shroud is now more resilient to cutting attacks - However, energy attacks continue to pose a problem, as they disrupt and corrode the Shroud itself.

The Shroud can also:
1.) Create afterimages to confuse targeting, at the cost of rapidly depleting the Shroud's nanomachines.

2.) Jettison 50% of its mass, to create a mobile decoy. These decoys dissipate after receiving a single attack - But to most targeting sensors, they're indistinguishable from yourself, posing a potent distraction.

3.) Be deployed to create a superdense physical barrier of overlapping hexagons. This completely depletes the Shroud, but offers substantial protection until destroyed; The barrier is immobile, but can be dispersed at will. Also known as the Assault Shroud's 'Fortress Mode', it creates a potent defence, at the cost of surrendering all offensive capability.

tl;dr - You can't shoot out of the barrier, or see very well out of it; It is, however, extremely difficult to destroy it.

INTERCEPTOR SYSTEM V2.0: (Up to 5 Rifle Bits, at 2% per Interceptor - Meter drains while active.)

You can release up to five autonomous combat drones from your shoulder and back binders. Now upgraded to RIFLE BITS, each Interceptor mounts a compact particle gun and vernier thrusters for improved manoeuvrability, allowing them to attack an opponent independently or simultaneously. The particle beams are particularly effective against lightly-armoured or unarmoured opponents, though not quite as powerful as the Red Joker's Plasma Vulcans; However, they're capable of sustained fire, rendering them highly useful for both point-defence and harassing enemy Players.

Despite a higher initial cost, the efficiency of the Interceptor System has been upgraded, allowing for greater accuracy and response time - Especially when tracking fast-moving or encrypted targets.

SPECIAL:

When powered by the COBALT BOOSTER, the rate of fire and armour-piercing capabilities of the particle beams are significantly increased. Also, the Rifle Bits now fire a sustained pulse of energy, instead of discharging their blasts in a single burst.

COBALT BOOSTER:

An secondary Reactor, which augments your existing systems. It takes the form of a blue-glowing sphere (set in your torso), with circuit-pattern channels to conduct the power. The Booster's capacity begins at 100% per encounter: When activated, it will enhance your armour's systems for a brief period of time - It's not meant for sustained use, but for brief bursts of activity.

The Booster's massive output capacity means that it'd be *very* quickly drained.

tl;dr - You can briefly enhance your weapons, your Special Weapons, or yourself, for a high cost. Using the Booster will empower your weapons with alternate (But enhanced) effects for one attack. Enhancing yourself will briefly increase your strength, speed or resilience for a single action. (Like a burst of 'extra effort'.)

SPECIAL: With the GNOSIS ENGINE installed, the COBALT BOOSTER'S starting capacity is 150% - If beneath this level, it gradually regenerates when not in use. Also, the GNOSIS ENGINE can now absorb incoming energy attacks, granting you a measure of resistance.

Finally, the COBALT BOOSTER's energies can now be channelled into physical attacks.

The COBALT BOOSTER also powers the TYRANT BURST SYSTEM.

(Detailed below.)

METER UPGRADE LEVEL 1:

You now begin each battle with 5% meter. Your Special Weapons now increase your Meter, instead of just depleting it. (Effectively reducing their net cost.)

METER UPGRADE LEVEL 2:

You now begin each battle with 12% meter. All Tier One Special Weapons are now immediately accessible, as long as you have sufficient Meter to utilize them. (i.e. The 15% 'cap' no longer exists.)

LIMITER UPGRADE LEVEL 1:

Your armour's internal systems are now significantly more efficient at processing and absorbing Essence. You now require 20% less Essence per level to reach your next upgrade.

TYRANT BURST SYSTEM:

Also known as the 'Flash Eye', the TYRANT BURST SYSTEM is an chest-mounted beam scatter gun, integrated into the COBALT BOOSTER; It's a personal version of the shielding orb device used by the ARMOURY GUARDIAN. As part of your auxiliary reactor, it functions independently of your Meter - It's powered solely by the COBALT BOOSTER'S energy reservoir.

tl;dr - It uses the COBALT BOOSTER for ammunition.

When activated, the Tyrant Burst system can produce one of several effects, in ascending levels of cost:

1.) A brilliant flash of light. (5-15% per blast.)
2.) A short-ranged photonic burst. (10-25% per blast.)
3.) A focused particle beam. (25%-40% per beam.)
4.) Multiple arching (but inaccurate) energy beams. (50% onwards, 10 - 15% per volley.)

CYBELE'S EMBLEM:

A sign of CYBELE'S favour, this unique HYADES CREST increases your maximum HP to 200% (A +50% boost.) When infused with energy, this Emblem repairs and reconstructs your armour, overriding existing battle damage in lines of glowing schematics - Through a process similar to the way you manifest your SPECIAL WEAPONS - up to and including regenerating destroyed limbs.

During the self-repair process, the revealed components of your armour remain fragile - And extremely vulnerable - until fully manifested, and can be disrupted by continuous damage. Cybele's rejuvenation can also be used to neutralize the effects of certain Codebursts and status effects, albeit at a significant cost.

The brand resembles a serrated sun, and glows when in use. Recently, the brand has been subtly altered by an unknown Player: However, it's hard to tell the difference, as the alterations don't seem to impede the functions of Cybele's Emblem.

The emblem's powers can only be used on yourself.

UPGRADE: After your reconciliation with CYBELE, your HYADES CREST has been upgraded - It now provides increases your maximum HP to 260% (A +100% boost.) Also, the ratio of the regeneration has improved, to-

(COST: 1% COBALT BOOSTER - 1% HP)

OR

(COST: 1% METER - 2% HP.)

Notably, this comes at a substantial cost to Cybele: The delay of the self-repair process increases proportionately with the amount of HP regenerated, with a corresponding risk of disruption. Repeated use of the CREST - In the same period of time - can cause it to temporarily 'short out', until power can be restored.

(tl;dr - The more you regenerate, the longer it takes.)

THE SINISTRAL:

Embossed with your grinning Joker crest, this chrome bracer is locked in place by countless needle-thin silver filaments - Actually a complex array of micro-circuitry linked to your armour's systems. When activated, the Sinistral's networked emitters trigger in sequence with the internal power source, generating a localized photonic barrier in the form of a shield.

As a virtual construct created entirely by a hard-light drive, the Sinistral can never truly be destroyed, only temporarily disrupted: Thanks to built-in redundancies, the overloaded ray-shield projectors can be 'cycled out' to recover, allowing a new shield to be created within moments.

Due to the need to conserve energy, most of the Sinistral's emitters remain on standby - However, they can be manually triggered, both to improve defensive capabilities and to generate powerful cutting blades...Which, conversely, results in a longer recharge time when the defensive field *is* overloaded, due to the increasing number of emitters being brought to bear.

The Sinistral adds 20% to your maximum HP: In addition, it has the following powers:

LEVEL 1:

At the default level, the Sinistral creates a plane of crackling white light - 'Ghost steel', according to Argent Prominence - the size and shape of a heater shield. While highly resistant to kinetic impact, energy attacks will quickly chew through the magnetic containment field, shorting out the barrier and collapsing the autoreactive energy shield.

When disrupted, the Sinistral's limiters channel the resulting feedback away from the user - Resulting in a short-ranged but potent concussive pulse that can be directed at an opponent. The shield can be deliberately overloaded, for the same effect.

When overloaded, this shield can be regenerated after a brief delay - Or immediately, for 5% Meter. (Or 10% Cobalt Booster.)

LEVEL 2:

When enhanced by the charging element in your gauntlet, the secondary banks of emitters go active, expanding the Sinistral's field lattice: At this level, the kite shield generated is capable of withstanding both ballistic and energy attacks, rapidly dispersing any direct impact. Also, the Sinistral's phase blades deploy, effectively turning the shield into a double-edged axe - One that can be swung at incredible speeds.

On command, the Sinistral can absorb a single energy-based attack directed at it, taking on the attack's properties until the barrier is next disrupted. (i.e. A fire-based attack results in a flaming shield.) The Sinistral's mimetic properties greatly increases the field's resistance, exerting a repulsive force against follow-up attacks of the same energy type.

(tl;dr - You can activate the Sinistral's phase blades, and enhance the shield's defensive properties, by linking it with the charging element in your gauntlet: You can't activate other weapons - With the same arm - for the duration.)

SPECIAL:

The Sinistral's contact field can be further supercharged by the Cobalt Booster - Forming a blazing phalanx of furious light, nearly too bright to look upon. At this level, the shield can actually reflect (or rather, deflect) energy attacks that fail to overwhelm it: More, the Sinistral's phase blades can shear through both matter *and* energy now - Ripping right through force fields of lesser magnitude in an arc of pellucid blue flame.

TEMPEST SCRANDER V3.0:

This compact, lightweight flight pack - Retrieved from Rambling Feather - uses a static charge to interact with the crimson world's inherent magnetic fields, allowing the wearer to propel himself through the air at high speeds.

Thanks to its electrical rather than flame-based properties, you don't run the risk of accidentally setting your Assault Shroud on fire.

It also comes in a trendy red colour.

After Argent Prominence's upgrade, the Tempest Scrander now sports a second reactor, which has been synched with the flight pack's integrated power source - As well as vernier thrusters for course corrections and omnidirectional flight. In an odd side-effect, the particle accumulator now disperses distinctive red photons, when the flight pack is in use or active.

LEVEL 1: At this level, you're not capable of true flight - The Scrander can only sustain a single burst of thrust, before slowly cycling back up to charge. However, it allows for high-speed horizontal dashes, greatly enhanced leaps, and - In a pinch - it can break a fall from a great height, if you trigger it at *exactly the right moment*.

Note that you can't change direction once you start moving, at this initial level; You point yourself towards the place you're hoping to going, hit the button, and you're off.

LEVEL 2: The Tempest Scrander now functions at full capacity, in the same way an actual jetpack would. Now, thrust can be sustained, for true directional flight - You're still not quite as manoeuvrable as you would prefer to be, however.

At medium burn, the Scrander has five minutes of flight time: However, the charge replenishes itself as long as you're not actively using it. When flying at high speeds, the Scrander can unleash an electromagnetic shockwave upon impact, as the excess energy is explosively dispersed. The resulting blast can stun and hurl back nearby opponents.

LEVEL 3: Augmented by a particle accumulator, the Tempest Scrander's flight time is now effectively unlimited. The wearer is capable of hovering freely and performing mid-air changes of direction, with a significant improvement to manoeuvrability. However, sustained high-speed flight will still deplete the Scrander's charge - Forcing a landing until it can be replenished.

Due to a unique interaction between the Scrander's static-based repulsors and the new reactor, the wearer - At the cost of completely depleting the Scrander's charge - can release a powerful bolt of lightning. Similarly, the area-of-effect and the output of the Tempest Scrander's collision attack - The 'Tempest Crash' - has been boosted.

SPECIAL:

When the COBALT BOOSTER is activated - after a brief delay - the Tempest Scrander's afterburners kick in for a sudden but violent burst of speed. Changing direction is extremely difficult, when the afterburners are activated; You'll always accelerate in the same way you're headed. On impact, the Scrander now creates a blinding flash of cobalt-blue light, as well as the magnetic shockwave.

Now that the Scrander has been upgraded, the boost can now be fired in any direction - Allowing you to perform incredible and frankly dangerous manoeuvres. Be warned: The forces exerted on your form can be *extremely* damaging.

THE CARNIFEX:

A cunningly-designed half-mask - In the shape of clasped skeletal fingers - the Carnifex conceals an intricate network of micro-circuitry. When activated (At the cost of 35% HP) the Carnifex overrides the safety limiters on the host's armour, greatly increasing his strength, speed and agility, until his armour is 'rebooted' by leaving and re-entering the Red World. (Or, less commonly, by massive physical trauma.) The user's perceptions are correspondingly accelerated, to synchronize with his enhanced capabilities.

Despite the significant advantages granted by the Carnifex, several drawbacks may result from it's use: The user's extraneous armour is explosively jettisoned when the Carnifex is activated, to accommodate the hypertrophy of the myomer fibres - Resulting in a significant loss of protection, and rendering the exposed components vulnerable to direct damage. Also, overtaxing the system can result in sudden (and potentially catastrophic) malfunctions, as the user's Player form struggles to cope with the massive levels of energy output and the strain of accelerated function.

Unlike most Relics, the Carnifex can also be used in the real world - At the cost of crippling fatigue, and a significant risk of self-injury. The human body, like Player armor, is not designed to be pushed beyond it's limits.

tl;dr - If you're not careful, you can easily cripple or even kill yourself with the Carnifex. If the Carnifex is already in use when you enter the Red World, all the effects (good and bad) are immediately applied to your armour.

Note that the Carnifex reduces your maximum HP cap for the encounter. For instance, if your HP had a 100% maximum before, your new maximum is 65%.

SPECIAL:

When used in conjunction with the Cobalt Booster, the user's raw speed and strength can be momentarily improved to truly Herculean levels. (Usually visible as a grotesque swelling of the armour's musculature.) At this point, fine control is nearly impossible; However, the Cobalt Booster's regulating effect actually reduces the likelihood of a terminal malfunction.

(Note that the Carnifex does not stack exponentially with the COBALT BOOSTER'S bonus: The Cobalt Booster's bonus is applied *first*, then the Carnifex's.)

LEVEL 2:

Now attuned with the Carnifex, the Red Joker's armour has been modified to accommodate both the explosive release of armour, and the hypertrophy of your myomer musculature. In addition to reducing your relative vulnerability (and the risk of a catastrophic malfunction), activating the Carnifex now allows you to continuously channel the raw power of the Cobalt Booster - Effectively engulfing you in photonic flame, and enhancing your weapons and Relics accordingly.

When this mode is activated, your armour releases waves of scorching blue fire - Actually the Carnifex's way of regulating the Red Joker's power output, by venting the accumulated energies before feedback overloads the reactor. The greater the demand for power, the greater the resulting discharge; While not immediately destructive to Player armour or hard targets, the flames burn *constantly* - Indiscriminate use of this ability could raze everything in the immediate area.

(tl;dr - When the Carnifex is activated, your Cobalt Booster begins to deplete at a constant rate of 20% per round - With the enhancement effect applying to all of your weapons and Relics in the process. This has the side-effect of creating a nimbus of photonic flame, which expands in direct proportion with your level of activity.

eg: Standing mostly still = Not much fire. Flying, while firing weapons and launching missiles = A lot of fire.)

NIHL SPHERE:

This strange Relic - A twin to Pazuzu's Nihl Eye - appears to be nothing more than a perfect orb of cracked, smoky quartz. It's oddly cool to the touch, and varies in size from time to time...But never enough to be inconvenient, and never when anyone's actively observing it. While there's no indication as to how it may be used, it appears that sphere's charge has somehow been exhausted, leaving it inert.

The Nihl Sphere has another strange property: It is one of the few Relics that also exists in reality. Whether it makes the transition with you, or exists in both worlds at once...It's hard to say.

CURRENT STATUS:

- After absorbing a charge from the Armory Guardian, the Nihl Sphere's color has lightened...As if lit from within by a fitful glow. When in the presence of a possible source of energy, the Sphere reacts on its own accord: However, given the fragile nature of the Relic, and the need for an uninterrupted transfer, it seems best to use the Sphere when the opponent is defenseless or otherwise incapacitated.

- After consuming Bardiel, the Nihl Sphere now ripples with eerie motion - Like a violet light, shining through smoke. Sometimes, half-seen and shadowy shapes can be glimpsed within the inner recesses of the glass, though that could merely be flaws in the crystal. The Sphere is now noticeably, but not uncomfortably, cold to the touch.

- After destroying the monstrous Amaglam, the smoky grey of the Nihl Sphere's surface is now broken by irregular pinpoints of violet light; The Sphere's substance roils, like coils of swirling mist, even when at rest. Your tenuous connection with the Sphere allows you to utilize it as a source of energy to cast CODEBURSTS - With unpredictable and disturbing effects.

- After utilizing two CODEBURSTS, the Nihl Sphere's light has dimmed - The constant roiling motion of the miasma has slowed, with a faint violet glow half-visible at odd intervals. There's a sluggish, uncertain inertia to it, oddly hypnotic and disturbing at once.

- After the deaths of CARNELIAN BLADE, MALACHITE ORB and DARK TUSK, the Nihl Sphere's glow has waxed once more: It seems to have stabilized, somehow, in overlapping shades of violet.

- After your encounter with CYBELE, the Nihl Sphere's light has dimmed - As much grey as violet, roiling in constant motion like a tempest-tossed ocean.

- After using EXEC_CONSUME on ASURA, the Nihl Sphere glows with wan violet light.

- After absorbing part of MIRAGE SYLPHEED's Essence, the Nihl Sphere's glows with a steady, pulsing violet illumination.

- After your reconciliation with CYBELE, the Nihl Sphere's charge has been entirely exhausted, reduced to the dull grey of cracked quartz.


HELIX GAUNTLET:

Forged from the remnants of Helix Gygas's data, this distinctive Gauntlet has weaponized the unique systems that allowed his Player form to absorb and redirect energies, unlocking the ability to use EXEC_CONSUME. The Helix Gauntlet is patterned after the snaking cables that made up Helix Gygas's armour, complete with an integrated housing for a receiver to be inserted.

At present, the Nihl Sphere is set in the back of the Gauntlet, with metal shutters that iris shut over the Sphere when the Gauntlet is not in use. (The Nihl Sphere can be freely removed, but the Gauntlet ceases function in that instance.)

In addition to EXEC_CONSUME, the Helix Gauntlet's superconductive nature means that it functions as a focus for Codebursts - Effectively, all Codebursts are 20% cheaper to use. (That is, 1/5th.)

LEUKOCYTE

A gleaming, sterile structure of white steel and platinum, the LEUKOCYTE is a weapons platform set in high orbit - Perpetually powered by the tachyon reactor at it's core. Notably, the LEUKOCYTE relies on the ambient Essence of the Red World to reach full charge: At a distance, it resembles a old-model satellite, with great banks of Essence Accumulators built into the superstructure.

Keyed to your armour, the LEUKOCYTE's weapon systems can be invoked through direct command - However, due to the limitations of the integrated sensor package, the LEUKOCYTE'S targets have to be remotely designated by the operator. (Alternatively, you could simply target a designated area.) Also, most of the LEUKOCYTE's functions aren't nearly as effective when underground, or in a building - Though the orbital platform's payloads are extremely destructive.

(tl;dr - Calling down a kinetic kill weapon while in a building might not hit your intended target, but may quite possibly destroy the building.)

The LEUKOCYTE has a substantial delay between targeting and firing, of up to six turns. However, painting the target with the laser designator - Or using the ARGUS SYSTEM/EXEC_HARROW to establish a target lock - can substantially reduced the delay.

At present, the LEUKOCYTE can deliver the following payloads: (All costs in Meter.)

35% - MASER BOMBARDMENT

When activated, the LEUKOCYTE directs a powerful microwave laser - With a beam radius of approximately ten feet - at the designated target. A massively scaled-up variant of the Hellion weapon, this focused beam can literally detonate the target from within: On an organic target, the effect is ruinous. While Players generally lack an anatomy to attack, the concentrated Maser blast will cause any reactive materials - particularly power sources, weapons and ammunition - to spontaneously explode, in addition to incinerating myomer musculature and armour systems.

Alternatively, the maser blast can be set to target a wider area - With a radius of approximately forty feet. While not as immediately lethal as the focused beam, the resulting storm of high-energy radiation constantly damages anyone in the area, and greatly impedes the use of energy-based systems or sensors.

As a radiation weapon, the MASER BOMBARDMENT generally isn't impeded by intervening materials.

55% - KINETIC ANTI-EMPLACEMENT WEAPON (AEW)

Massing just over two hundred kilograms, the LEUKOCYTE's kinetic kill weapons have a simple design: Rods of superdense steel-analogue, with rudimentary guidance systems, thrusters and an ion engine. When activated, the LEUKOCYTE releases the projectile - Which is subsequently guided down to hit the target at roughly 30,000 kilometers per hour, effectively creating a guided meteorite weapon.

While almost useless against mobile targets, AEWs are *hideously* destructive to the surroundings. In the event of anything less than a direct hit, the resulting shockwave is every bit as damaging, and can cause spontaneous - And severe - seismic activity.

Not recommended for use at close range.

75%  - TACHYON DISINTEGRATOR

The LEUKOCYTE'S biggest gun, the TACHYON DISINTEGRATOR relies on the same principle as IXION'S weaponry: The violent displacement of mass through space and time. When activated, the LEUKOCYTE unleashes a vertical column of annihilating radiance: A beam that simply erases anything in a tightly-focused fifteen-foot radius. As a highly surgical weapon, there's almost no collateral damage - Effectively, anything hit directly by the TACHYON DISINTEGRATOR is erased from existence.

Due to the odd properties of tachyon particles, the erased object might *retroactively* cease to exist, leading to glitches in the local timeline - Possibly altering the immediate past, in unforeseen ways.

In the LEUKOCYTE's alternate firing mode, the quantum displacement field *disperses*, resulting in multiple rays that pepper the immediate area: While a direct hit still means disintegration, most of the mass is violently destabilized instead of shunted away. The resulting effect can best be described as a rippling chain of explosions, immediately after the initial blast - Creating unstable and *highly* volatile spatial/temporal distortions, and the equivalent of a stellar minefield.

(tl;dr - After the initial laser bombardment, the area begins to spontaneously explode. Then *really* bad things start to happen.)

Targets utterly annihilated by the Tachyon Disintegrator do not yield Essence.

ORTHRUS CREST:

A steel emblem fashioned in the shape of a bifurcated wolf's skull, this heavy sigil is cracked cleanly in half - The edges scarred and uneven, as if to remind you of a fight left unfinished...Or mercy rewarded.

Dropped by one-half of INOX FANG, the Crest is currently maglocked to your pauldron - By itself, it has no apparent effect, beyond being an impressive trophy.

MISERICORDE:

This needle-pointed knife - A stiletto, really - has a makeshift, melted look to it, with a long, narrow blade of grey steel. The crimson hilt fits your hand as if made for it, and is strangely comfortable to the touch.

While a subpar weapon, this dagger was specifically crafted to kill the Red Joker, and still remains exceedingly lethal to him.

You don't like carrying it on you - But there might be a use for it, yet.

TRI-STARS INSIGNIA:

The emblem of the Black Tri-Stars (Three black stars against a large white field), this icon actually mounts a simple transmitter/receiver. When activated, it broadcasts a pulse on a frequency audible to BISHAMON, TYRIAN EDGE and VOLT REGIOS.

ADJUDICATOR: (DESTROYED)

A crimson kite shield bearing the Red Joker's emblem, the Adjudicator is both shield and sword at once - When the beam emitters lining the edges of the shield are triggered, a powerful cutting field expands beyond the cover area, forming a double-ended cleaving blade. The Adjudicator is balanced to be swung with comparatively little effort, and conceals a Pile Bunker weapon - A retractable pneumatic spike - in the tip, to compensate for the lack of a proper stabbing point.

The Adjudicator effectively increases your HP by 30%: However, the energized blades draw power from the left-arm Plasma Vulcans, rendering them unusable while the cutting fields are active. The Pile Bunker also has an effective range of less than a meter, and is slow to retract - Effectively rendering it a close-range (but extremely lethal) last-ditch weapon.

Unfortunately, this Relic was destroyed in your battle with Bardiel.

At present, Argent Prominence is creating an upgraded version of the shield, with greater defensive capabilities.

SPECIAL:

After the initial activation, the Adjudicator's phase blades can be empowered by the COBALT BOOSTER, for an enhanced cutting edge...Greatly increasing the damage and range of the swing.

JOURNAL:

This battered notebook is filled with an odd script vaguely reminiscent of program code, packed page-to-page in small, cramped handwriting. The cypher is impossible to read: However, a pair of coordinates indicates the location of the main Corrector Hive.

At present, Argent Prominence holds the Journal.

CRUCIFIX:

A silver crucifix on a fine chain, this item was a gift from Kotone. It's clear that exacting care was take in its crafting; It has the substantial, and ancient, feel of a family heirloom.

This item is presently held by FATHER YASUDA, of the CHURCH OF THE LAST HOUR.