Legacy of the Mantis
11 Oct 2024Dwayne "Nova" Smith
June 18th, 2330So, it's been a couple of days and I think we're ready to head back to Jemison. Lin helped me reset the base defenses, including the turrets in the puzzle room. Figured I'd keep that one for now. I found a tablet in the control room that gives me remote access to the whole system, so I can shut things down at will. Plus, we reconfigured everything to recognize my biosignature, so I should be good to go even without the remote access. Turns out this place has a built-in jammer that keeps it off scans. The previous Mantis must have turned it off before she died so that Leon could actually find the place. Must have also been the reason all the Spacers were able to find it too.
Heller helped me pull all the dead Spacers out of the facility. Even helped me clean up the two that got turned into pasta sauce. I'll have to get him a gift for that task... Stripped the suits off them, cause the Trade Authority will buy even compromised spacesuits, loaded them into the hold of the Frontier and dumped them into orbit. They should burn up on reentry.
Heller also helped me bury Leon. We, uh... Found another recorded message. For Leon, from his mother. Talking about how proud of him she was. How she knew he'd make a great Mantis. It was... tough to hear, given the circumstances. But what's happened can't be changed. Leon is dead, his mother is dead, and frankly, from the sound of it, their relationship had been dead for a long time anyways. But the Mantis doesn't have to be dead. Not anymore. I have all the resources available to me. The funding of Constellation, bounties and intelligence from the Tracker's Alliance, and now both the ship, equipment and base to not just play out some sort of Mantis fantasy, but to really, truly be the Mantis.
It's still unbelievable, I know. I'm going to talk to Sarah about it when I get back to the Lodge. See what she thinks I should do with... all of this. Not just for me, but for Constellation as well. I did literally just join them a month and a half ago, I would hate to put them in a bind so soon! Funny how quickly I've come to rely on and trust her thoughts on things...
Well, enough of that. Let's talk about the ship and the suit. The ship is fantastic, but almost unbelievably, it runs on a Class A reactor. It's a good Class A reactor, but it's still just a Class A. Gonna have to upgrade that immediately. I don't think there's space to cram in one of those bulky Class C reactors, but I'm sure I could convince Walter to help me gain access to some of the higher end Class B's. Preferably whatever Dogstar's newest model is. Which should also allow me to swap out the existing Horizon Defense particle beams with something from Light Scythe. The UC in me hates to admit it, but the FC's particle beam weapons are just better... As are their missile systems, now that I think about it, cause the Atlatl is just a superior missile launcher system all around compared to anything Horizon Defense produces... hmm... maybe I should swap those too...
Anyways. I have a plan for some upgrades to the ship once I get it offworld. Which won't be cheap, but with all the loot that can be sold from the Lair, plus whatever I can cajole out of Walter, I should be able to make it happen.
So, onto the suit. Cause it's... wow. I don't know where the old Mantis got their hands on this tech, or how they managed to get all of it working together, but boy is it a thing of beauty. The suit is done in a white and dark green fashion. Stark white "shirt" with dark green arms and pants, the white lines accenting the breaks in the suit really make it pop. You'd definitely never forget this if you saw in person. It also comes packed with lots of defensive tech.
I found another note for Leon in the armory, something from his mother, explaining the ins and outs of the suit. Helpful, if not melancholic listening to it knowing I'm not the intended audience. Anyways, not only is the suit made out of a high class ballistic weave with energy conducting metals sewn in to give it good energy weapon dissipation, it also has a full liquid cooling/heating system, providing additional thermal protection. Pair that with the servos built into the legs, clearly designed to help with either running or carrying capacity, and you've already got a superior spacesuit. However the suit isn't done there. You're not going to believe this, but the suit actually has a small metal box built into the chest with the word "Sentinel" stamped onto it. If you haven't guess yet, I won't keep you waiting. It's a personal shield generator. No idea where she got the technology, cause I seriously thought it was still theoretical. I mean, shields are perfectly normal, almost every starship has one afterall, but the power needed to produce one on the scale of a single person? I didn't think we currently had a solution for that problem. Clearly I'm wrong. Mind boggling, I know.
The note I found said the shield provided a significant damage reduction, 75% if her testing is correct, but it comes with the drawback that it's only effective when standing still. Said something about the shield not solidifying properly during movement? I don't know, I'm not an engineer. Maybe I'll let Noel look at it sometime and see if she can make sense of it.
But the suit wasn't the only prize in the armory! There was also a helmet and a boost pack. The helmet is loaded. A dark grey color, it's angular design is distinctly insectoid. Very fitting for, well, for the Mantis. It comes with special filters that boost O2 extraction from the surrounding atmosphere, decreasing oxygen consumption and increasing stamina. It also comes with advanced antiseptic filters that, according to the note, should give significant protection against alien microbial life. The Mantis must have caught a bad Flu one times too many. The last little trick to the helmet is that it comes with an aim assist mode the Mantis called "Headhunter" mode in her note. She said it highlights human enemies heads in red, which, again, if her testing is correct, increased her accuracy and damage output by 25%. In a fire fight those types of numbers are pretty damn significant.
The boost pack is the most normal, if you could use that word for any of this. It fit the insectoid motif perfectly, being built in a triangular shape consisting of nothing but sharp lines and hard angles, the same stark white as the suit. It has an extra powerful boost, which will take some getting used to. I will most likely calibrate it to my preference when I have a chance. I still need to read up on spacesuit mods a bit more, but I think I'll tune it down to a more balanced output. Besides that, the rest of the tech was oxygen related. It has two emergency canisters of air placed against the sides of the booster, as well as backup O2 filters, similar to the ones in the helmet.
Don't get me wrong, I like the look of the Constellation spacesuits, they feel like they really fit the explorer aesthetic. And the Tracker's Alliance suits are just, super badass. But this Mantis spacesuit? Even just the look of it... God damn. Throw in the unbelievable technology built into it? GOD DAMN.
Gonna take some time to get used to things, and assuming I move forward with my plans to truly assume the identity of the Mantis... well... I'm sure I'll have some real interesting stories to tell.
For now though, I need to get ready for launch. Heller and Lin are going to fly the Frontier back to New Atlantis. I'm going to take the Razorleaf and follow them. I'll let Walter give it a once over before I make any changes, just to make sure I didn't miss any awe-inspiring tech, but I think a trip to Hopetown is in my near future. And then back to Akila to pick up some more bounties.
Dwayne out.