Red gave a nod. “We did, and more. We have a secure armor bay for you to try them out.”
Once Zhen agreed, Red tapped his omni-tool a few times. The pair were Blinked into a spotless room, with a single compacted armor gantry which unfolded into its full circular ‘gateway’ configuration as Zhen approached.
Beside the gantry was a replicator console, which Red used to produce the upgrade modules in question. These were placed on a table which slid out from a slot on the gantry’s side.
“As I promised, that Blink pack was done. Here with it are a few more miscellaneous modules I thought your suit might need. Among them, a portable nanofabrication system. Anything you want or need while you’re out on the field, it will be able to make.“
Zhen nodded, grabbing the Blink module and installing it into her suit. Her armor was able to integrate it easily enough. Next was the other systems. The Nanofabrication system seemed interesting, as it could be used to replenish her missiles without needing to use a reload station or Concentration, so she made certain to grab that one too.
“Thank you for your help,” Zhen replied. “The more upgrades I have to deal with the assassin, the better.”
“One more thing,“ Red added, gesturing for Zhen to wait a moment more.
He drew a data chip, the thin slate of nanocrystalline material no larger than a 21st century USB device, from his pocket. “The nanotech in that fabricator module can construct stuff, but only from available data. This data chip can serve as a storage medium for the information of whatever scanned items you need or find interesting.”
“From there, the nanofab can construct it. Do be aware that there are some things the system can’t outright create, but can do so indirectly. It can’t make antimatter on the spot, for example, but it can help create a particle accelerator to do so.”
If the reports were accurate, this was certainly a very interesting development. Both for the Empire and themselves.
The Initiative hadn’t had much chance to study the technology of Chozo Power Armors in-depth, the one partial sample they’d managed to acquire still proving rather daunting to study even after a decade of dedicated, cautious research.
Still, what little they’d managed to learn had opened up various alternative approaches and innovations in current GDI biotechnology, even helping to cause a breakthrough in their side-research on Inusannon technologies.
And given how incredibly lethal a certain Chozo suit-user was, any further insight regarding Chozo suits was definitely worth finding out about.
“I see…” Red responded telepathically. “This adaptation feature is interesting since it’s slightly like the shield technology we use.“
“And I must admit, we only caught wind of these Fusion Suit users due to some observer clouds finding small transmissions of theirs by sheer accident. In that regard, the level of secrecy used was very excellent. That aside, good to see Nora took measures to ensure the safety of the Suit technology.“
“Strange that the suits can only use those stations to upgrade, though.“
The fact that the Fusion Suits could only upgrade their firmware at certain proprietary stations onboard mobile ships was, to him, both an interesting operational security feature and a tactical limitation. The Initiative’s own elite Shadow operatives utilized single-burst QEC links to update their firmware as needed, without needing to use any equipment station or associated support system.
Then again, GDI had built every last piece of its infrastructure to be as decentralized as possible, to make the loss of any central command chain irrelevant. Not exactly a fair comparison there.
The stations are a security method, actually, Astrid admitted. By ensuring they only get upgrades at certain locations we ensure that they don’t just get upgrades all the time, which is what we want to avoid. Fusion Suit operatives are generally well-geared enough to survive without needing the stations all the time. They’re at least able to grab missile expansions and energy tanks without needing the stations.
“An interesting solution, but I can see how it fits.“ Red agreed.
“Though, how would the operatives continue extended operations should the ships with the required stations be sabotaged, hijacked or otherwise? Surely there are contingencies in place for the possibility of their support infrastructure being unavailable.”
This was one of the major things planned for by his own side, at least. It was perhaps a tad bit too paranoid, but the Initiative found it was always best to prepare for even the most nightmarish of strategic situations.
“As you said, the operatives can go without the stations for some time. But if the Empire faces a sufficiently cunning foe and has had much of its logistical capability shredded, I can’t see how these vital troops will be able to continue a fight without soon facing severe shortages. Perhaps some local-area resource manipulation for each operative’s Fusion Suit might help alleviate this? Even a basic nano-fabrication module would go a long way.“
Gold rings circle and encapsulate the desolate moonscape – lavish architecture signifying the Orokin mastery over all things natural and technological during their reign. The opalescent halls stitching together what the enemy destroyed have been vacated since that era came to an end. —Lua Fragment
Initiative Archival Network 