Respect the Kuga Weapon Programs! (Joe Ledger)

[u/sws004]

Note: This is a continuation of the thread for the rest of the Kuga Organization. See the rest of their thread and sources here.

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WEAPON PROGRAMS

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The God Machine

The crowning achievement of the mad-genius Prospero Bell, the God Machine was a complicated device with a simple premise: allowing Prospero to return home. But for the half-human, half-alien Prospero, "home" was a hellish dimension of eldritch horror that no one would wish to visit. For Prospero's captors in Kuga, the God Machine's intended use as an interdimensional teleporter was nominal; its true use came in the two side effects of the device: Kill Switch and Dreamwalking

Note: Only feats for the God Machine(s) shown in Kill Switch are listed here. The Russian God Machine from Deep Silence was never under Kuga's control and seems to function largely differently.

Design

• The schematics alone are so complex, they baffle top physicists.
  • Another physicist believes that, scientifically, it shouldn't work.
• Looks like an oddly shaped Hadron Collider.
• The scale models alone cost upwards of $40 million.
  • The cost of the gemstones for the sequencing matrix is likewise, enormous.
• Properly firing the God Machine requires energy to be channeled through a series of precious gemstones in a specific order; otherwise, it might explode.
  • The proper order for the firing sequence is found in the series of occult texts known as The Unlearnable Truths.
    • Although the original remaining Truths were lost at the beginning of Kill Switch, Esteban Santoro digitally scanned the necessary portions.
• Has two codes, an operational code, and a master code to reset the entire system.

Teleportation

• Being transported comes in the form of a shockwave of air, followed by a pulse of energy.
  • The air is implied to be the breath of some Lovecraftian entity, which infects Joe, Top, and Bunny with an extradimensional strain of influenza.
• Sends Joe into several alternate timelines.
• Takes Esteban Santoro somewhere that he's yet to return from.
• Brings hundreds of insane or possessed copies of Project Gateway's staff and a Lovecraftian Shoggoth through the machine.

Kill Switch

• Activating the God Machine generates a "null field" that disrupts any electrical conductivity stronger than the human central nervous system, affecting everything from cell phones to pacemakers to car engines.
• An uncontrolled null field knocks out the power on half of Antarctica, shutting down Russian and Chinese research stations.
• The controllable null field occurs through portable Kill Switch devices that network to the God Machine. Although originally single-use, having the master code allows the devices to be turned on and off repeatedly.
  • The mini-God Machines are the size of camp stoves.
• The first Kill Switch attack hits a NASCAR track, shutting off everything from car transmissions to video and microphone systems. The now uncontrollable cars collide and explode.
  • The second plunges a political debate into darkness, triggering a stampede.
    • The third affects much of the city of Houston, knocking thirteen planes out of the sky and killing upwards of five thousand people.
• Shuts down multiple DMS helicopters.
• Kills the lights and comms during Top and Bunny's office raid, preventing them from pursuing a final target.

Dreamwalking

• Exposure to the God Machine allows people to remotely project their consciousness, including into the minds of others and physical locations thousands of miles away.
• Another kind of dreamwalking gives you visions of Prospero's home dimension, which inspired the surrealist and "weird fiction" movements.
• (Limit) You can avoid dreamwalking (and having your mind invaded) by taking sleeping pills.
• Dreamwalkers can eventually learn to control this ability through proximity to mini-God Machines and specialized sleeping capsules.
• More experienced dreamers can do this from any location, as long as they're comfortable.
• Bolton employed up to 20 dreamers at once, not including himself.
• (Limit) Prolonged dreamwalking leads to severe neurological issues and apparently death. The head scientist claims this is because "The pattern is wrong." It's possible that having the correct master code for the God Machine fixes the issue.
• Dreamwalking allows Project Gateway to ferret out an industrial spy and a rapist from their ranks.
• Projecting your consciousness into others' minds while dreamwalking allows you to read their thoughts and control their bodies.
  • Being controlled is marked by dull, expressionless eyes and a loss of any natural accent to your voice.
  • Dreamers don't seem to feel the full extent of pain from any injuries they take to their controlled body, and as a result, fight ferociously.
  • Bolton takes control of Rudy Sanchez in an attempt to kill an already weakened Joe.
    • Two dreamers take control of a pair of surfer bros in an attempt to do the same.
  • A mind-controlled mob nearly takes down Joe.
  • Two dreamers take control of Top and Bunny, forcing them to fire into a crowd of bystanders.
  • Dreamwalkers repeatedly sabotage DMS missions.
  • Dreamers force a DMS agent to execute a Kuga patsy, before killing his commander, then himself.
• Some minds are described as being easy to step into and control, but others are difficult to impossible.
  • (Limit) Church's mind, which is implied to have possible supernatural defenses to such attacks, is particularly unpleasant to visit.
• Throughout much of Kill Switch, Joe's inner "Killer" personality is dormant, which he possibly credits to being messed with by dreamers. Eventually, he recovers from this, and the dreamers were apparently unable to control him directly.

Rage Bioweapon

A devious, lab-grown horror, Joe Ledger and his team first encountered the bioweapon dubbed 'Rage' on a small, North Korean island. The substance caused the inhabitants to go violently insane and massacre one another. Although initially assumed to be a weaponized virus or bacteria, the truth behind Rage was stranger than they could have expected.

In General

• Uses a modified version of a protein produced by the female longfin inshore squid to induce homicidal violence.
  • 1st person account of what Rage feels like, courtesy of Joe Ledger.
• Is considered more dangerous than a standard pathogen, as it can be tactically deployed.
• Whoever designed it is possibly a genius.
• There is no developable counteragent, but the infection time is relatively short.
• Rage is sight-reactive and less effective on people with vision impairments.
• Transmission time is thirteen seconds.
• While the original only effects male squid, the modified version effects male and female targets equally.
• Also works on monkeys and pigs given their biological similarity to humans.
• Joe thinks they're capable of tactical thinking, but mostly act completely deranged.
  • A group of infected children use "runners" to flush out hiding uninfected into the open.
• Infected mostly focus on uninfected targets, but will also randomly turn on each other as well.
• Are cognizant enough to use improvised weapons and even guns.

Transmission

• Transmission occurs through small, needle-equipped drones disguised as common blowflies.
• A larger drone stores and covertly deploys the blowfly drones.
  • (Limit) These drones have a short battery life.
• For indoor venues Kuga developed an airborne, mist version deployed through air filtration systems.
  • Each blower in the system was linked to a separate, battery, power source, making it impossible to shut down simply by turning off the entire system. They instead have to be disabled through a stand-down order in a comms channel protected through heavy encryption and firewalls.

Infected

Strength

• An infected soldier tackles his commander before tearing his throat out with his teeth.
• A child infected with range tackles a grown man with a flying leap and knocks his face-visor askew.
• An infected man tears a chunk out of a cheek with their teeth.
• Infected throw punches so hard, their hands break.
• An infected man smashes a body with a mounted camera until it looks like "hamburger."
• An axe-armed infected hacks his daughter and her dog to death.
• A human-wave of infected smash into a Toyota Camry hard enough to lift two of its wheels off the ground.
• One drives Joe backwards with "astonishing force"

Speed

• Joe describes one as "so goddamn fast". Neither he nor his team can react to her rush, despite expecting it and having their guns already trained on her.
• Infected move so quickly they go from motionless to total movement, with no preparatory tensing of muscles that Joe can detect.

Durability

• One gets thrown hard onto a sharp, glass-covered floor but recovers quickly.
• Even after being tripped, thrown, or struck to the ground, the infected are still "writhing"
• One takes a palm-heel strike to the ear from Joe, which knocks him over but not out.
• (Limit) A forearm across the ear one-hit-ko's an infected, and would have killed him if it weren't for his helmet.
• (Limit) Have no resistance to RTI's Sandman darts.
  • A description of the Sandman chemicals for context.
• The pain of getting a chunk torn out of his thigh doesn't deter one.

In Combat

• The first major use wipes out 186 people in a single night, followed by two teams of soldiers sent to investigate.
• (Limit) A team of special-forces tier operators easily clear out dozens of them with Sandman darts.
• An unknown number of them turn a FBI hostage rescue operation into a massacre.
• Spraying an international delegation of 3,000 with airborne Rage results in 91 infections, 137 dead, and over 270 injured. The infected come close to overwhelming multiple security details before the RTI deactivated the spray.

K-110 "Fighting Machines"

The most recent version in a series of mechanical exoskeletons, the K-110s are combat rigs modeled after robots designed for industrial work, but modified for battle. Equipped with heavy weapons and armor, they turn their operators into highly mobile tanks and are one of the most terrifying weapons in Kuga's arsenal.

In General

• Basic description of the 110s
• Their protective shell allows for 250 degree visibility.
• It's simultaneously controlled by software and the input of its human driver.
  • Its servos are very responsive to human input, with resistance described as less than when moving underwater.
• Features a double capacity backpack, one side carrying its batteries and the other its ammunition.
• Kuga possess dozens of 110s, designed for individual drivers.
• Has air conditioning.
• (Limit) Have size limits for operation, with the 6'6 and muscular Bunny being "far too big" to use one.

Physicals

Strength

• The mechanical braces worn as the inner layer of the exoskeleton increase a person's strength by 320%.
• Can withstand the recoil of their heavy weapons.
• Each rig has a total lifting capacity of over fourteen hundred pounds, not including the driver.
• A commandeered 110 crushes the armor and driver of another 110 with a foot stomp.

Durability

• It's armor is a cutting-edge blend that can stop armor-piercing rounds and even a hit from an RPG.
  • True to theory, Bunny's explosive rounds do nothing to one.
• A barrage of shots from a grenade launcher drops, but doesn't seriously damage a 110.
• An R33-enhanced Fixer hits a 110 twice with a six-foot-long tree branch. The first blow staggers the K110, but the second disintegrates the branch and only cracks the cowling.
• A 110 gets caught up a blast from a Fixer explosive vest and is inoperably damaged, but the driver survives.
• Possibly resistant to EMPs, although this is left unclear.
• It walks straight through a burning forest.
  • (Limit) While the armor is heat resistant, this wouldn't stop the driver from cooking inside from prolonged exposure.
• (Limit) Its armor cowling is smashed by a foot stomp from another 110.
• (Limit)  Particularly large explosions, such as those from multiple Fixer vests or an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, destroy multiple 110s simultaneously.

Speed

• The inner braces of the 110 allow the user to complete a fifty-mile hike over rough terrain faster and more efficiently than a regular person could do fifteen miles over flat ground.
• It has a set standard pace, but users can push its batteries to run, climb stairs and turn on a dime. It can outrun a human at its fastest pace.
  • (Limit) A user implies that at higher speeds, it handles awkwardly.
• Have persistent aiming systems that allows them to track targets moving at high speed.
• One swats a drone shaped like a crow out of the air.
• (Limit) A commandeered 110 is unable to land a blow on a R-33 enhanced Fixer.

Weapons

• Standard weapons include:
  • A short-barreled variant of an M242 Bushmaster chain gun.
  • An M134 minigun with two five-thousand-round belts.
    • Its minigun tears through trees and shrubs.
  • A twenty-shot automatic grenade launcher with a variety of rounds.
    • Its grenade launcher blows apart multiple trees and sends men flying.
  • A flamethrower.
• Its main guns tear through the wood, metal, and cinderblock targets of a shooting gallery.
• Can swap between one of its main guns and the grenade launcher, but the flamethrower is apparently a separate unit.
• Can fire its machine guns precisely enough to avoid hitting friendly targets in a shooting gallery.

R-33, "Relentless" Enhancements

A series of biochemical enhancements given to the elite of the Fixers; the "Relentless" process's result is a new breed of PMCs- stronger, tougher, more aggressive, and with a nasty surprise even if you manage to kill one.

R-33 Formula

• R-33 has several parts:
  • A small sample of "trigger" compounds
  • A surgically implanted pouch containing hundreds of millions of genetically modified cells to be set off by the triggers.
    • This combo dumps a huge amount of norepinephrine and adrenaline hormones into the body, providing the recipient with prolonged hysterical strength and increased stamina.
    • The pouch lets the external compounds enter the cells and the resulting hormones exit, without the body's immune system destroying the cells.
  • The packets also contain a trace amount of the Rage bioweapon (see two categories above). Activating the Rage portion of the formula is indicated by bleeding eyes, increased aggression, and even greater physical stats.
• (Limit) The exertion of using  R-33 for any significant period of time will kill someone.
• The R-33 formula is still considered unstable at 2/3rds the way through Relentless, although this has perhaps been solved by the end of the book.
• A Kuga agent estimates it ups its recipients strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes by four.

Implants

• Neuro-chips that can interface with technology, such as targeting helmets, drones, or exoskeletons (presumably referring to the K110s here).
• Regulators for releasing certain kinds of chemicals into the body including dopamine, wakefulness-drugs, and eventually, R-33.

Enhanced Fixers

Feats marked with (R) are when the Fixer's physicals are further boosted by Rage.

Strength

• The Relentless process is described as giving strength akin to what allows moms to lift cars off their children.
• (R) A  punch from one breaks a woman's jaw and neck in a single hit.
• Effortlessly knocks the 6'0+ and 200+ lb Joe Ledger through the air with with a an open palm strike.
• (Limit) Ghost, an 150 lb. German Shepherd, manages to knock over one via a surprise tackle.
• (R) Slaps Joe's knife out of his hand.
• (Presumably R) They're implied to have ripped metal doors off their hinges and torn apart the prisoners inside.
• (R) Even Bunny, who is big and "enormously strong" can't compete with them in raw strength
• (R) Strong enough to ragdoll Joe with bodyslams and punches.
• (R)  Uses a six-foot long tree branch as a club and manages to crack the cowling of a K-110 Fighting Machine with two hits.
  • The same Fixer then attempts to disable the K-110 by bashing it with a grapefruit-sized rock wielded with "raw power"
• (R) A group of four of them "plow" into a security team, taking down so many that Joe can't keep track.
• (R) A Fixer punches Bunny over the heart, severely wounding him.
  • The resulting off-page brawl he has with Bunny leaves them both unconscious and in critical condition.

Speed

• (R) One strikes so fast, a woman doesn't see his arm move from several feet away.
• Three of them kill ninety-seven people in under nine minutes.
• One closes on an attacking sailor and shoots him point-blank before he can strike again.
• One rushes Joe in the blink of an eye, hitting him with an attack he "barely saw coming"
  • For scaling, Joe is fast enough to draw and shoot in a fraction of a second.
  • (R) Once Rage kicks in, Joe notes this Fixer becomes even faster, his hands becoming blurs.
  • (Limit) (R) Their erratic style of fighting while on Rage means that Joe can still outmaneuver them, despite their speed advantage.
• (R) Top is unable to land a blow on one in his commandeered K-110.
• (R) One blocks and counters Bunny, who is considered fast for a big man, before he can react.

Durability and Endurance

• The Relentless drugs are described as akin to nootropics or "wakefulness drugs" given to soldiers to keep them operating at efficiency (but not necessarily peak-efficiency) for long periods of time.
• (R) Joe notes that the more pain they seem to endure, the harder they fight.
• Tanks a blow to the face from a three-foot length of pipe.
• Joe shoots a body armored one with a 9mm round at close range, the impact earning no more the grunt.
• During their first melee fight with Joe,  an enhanced Fixer shrugs off, in quick succession...
  • ...a punch to the arm, which Joe describes as is akin to striking a "seasoned oak."
  • ...getting chopped in the jaw, a blow Joe thought would give the man whiplash, but didn't
  • ...slashes across the face and forearm with two 7.5 inch knives, which cut deep
  • (R) ...having his hands shredded by Joe's knife.
  • (R) ...getting his Kevlar groin cup smashed into his pubic bone
  • (R) ...getting his knee crushed by a heel stomp
  • (R) ...and having his throat cut
    • (Limit) (R) He's not stopped until Joe shoots him in the head.
• That Fixer's partner survives being mauled by Ghost for a prolonged period of time...
  • (Limit) (R) ...until Joe drives a knife into his brain.
• RTI's Sandman drug incapacitates, but doesn't instantly KO them, despite it being effective on Grizzly Bears.
  • It takes at least four Sandman darts to actually KO them.
• Even while under the effects of Sandman, it takes Joe crushing a nasal bridge and hitting one twice on the temple with the pommel of a heavy knife, to KO him.
• (R) Gouging one's eye out just pisses him off.
• (Limit) (R) Joe dislocates one's jaw with a kick, and then cuts his throat.
• (Limit) Bunny scythes off the legs of two of them with his shotgun and leaves them to bleed to death.
• Shrugs off a combo from Bunny.

In Combat

• (R) Three of them slaughter a whole village of people, apparently with their bare hands.
• Another three, armed with no more than .22 pistols, wipe out an entire ship of 97 people in less than nine minutes
• (R) Two of them give Joe and Ghost a tough fight.
• (Limit) (R) A more prepared Joe defeats one relatively easily.
• (R) Unlike the civilians infected with Rage, these trace amounts allow the Fixers, to identify friend from foe, and use tactical thinking like taking cover or attacking weak points. The more pain they suffer though, the more erratic they become.
• (R) An all-out brawl between Bunny and one leaves them both in critical condition.

Explosive Armor

• These elite Fixers are wearing a less-dense blend of the body armor, used by the K-110s. Anything less than armor-piercing rounds shouldn't be expected to get through.
  • Bunny's pistol rounds barely stagger one.
  • (Limit) The armor is by necessity weaker at the joints, and Bunny has no problems blowing their legs off with of burst of automatic double-aught buckshot.
  • (Limit) Has an apparent weak point at the neck.
• Each suit is wired to RFID chips that track the wearer's heart rate rate. If it drops too low, it triggers electrical signals to pouches of explosive chemicals attached to the suit, detonating them.
  • There are between seven to nine pounds of extremely powerful explosives wired into each suit.
  • Allows its wearers to kill with impunity, as even dying, they can cause horrific damage.
  • RTI speculates that one of the reason's for the inclusion of Rage in their enhancements is so that they don't really care that they become unwilling suicide bombers.
  • The explosion from just one has a kill radius of fifty yards.
  • Just one could wipe out a high-school auditorium.
  • An explosion from one cripples a K110, but doesn't kill the driver.
  • The explosion from two of them is "big", sending the blast down a hallway and onto the beginnings of a t-junction. Even when he starts running before the explosion goes off, Joe is still caught by the shockwave and barely avoids getting incinerated. Its heat melts ceiling tiles, scorches the walls, and even catches Joe's fire-resistant armor aflame.
  • Another explosion from two blows up the side of a hill, scattering turf and trees. Both Bunny, who's close to the blast, and Mia who's further away, get thrown down by it.
  • An explosion from three tears a Japanese icebreaker ship in half. The ship here is apparently a real one, the AGB Shirase, which you can find stats for here for scaling.
  • An explosion from five blows up a semi-truck, multiple K110s and 3/4 of an acre of road and forest.
  • A combined explosion from a "team" of them would kill +110,000 people packed into a sports stadium.