Name: Wasp Armament System and Pheromones AKA: Wasp Gun, Nightmare Swarmer, Oh God The Bees!, Littlest Warcrimes Description: Two variants of the weapon system exist: a breach-loaded single-shot handgun and a 5-shot full length rifle. Due to the bulk of the munitions, the rifle necessarily operates in semi-automatic form. Both weapons contain in-built suppressors visible along the barrel. The munitions themselves contain 15 vespa bellacidum per shot, a genetically engineered species of incredibly dangerous insects, sustained in micro-cryopods until firing. In transit, the cryo is swiftly released, and on impact, a small pink patch of pheromones from the tip marks the victim of these horrible little creatures. Abilities: Gun that shoots wasps. The wasps are genetically engineered for weaponization with Greenfinger aid, and are able to stab and claw through thin metal and combat meshes commonly used at the joints of power armor and combat androids. They swarm and burrow into their target, causing severe pain and catastrophic system failures to their victims. Very few organics are prepared for dozens of designed-to-inflict-debilitating-pain stings, and very few androids are capable of continuing operation as their internal circuitry is torn apart by wasps making a nest of their insides. Insects are notoriously difficult to kill with swords and guns. Insect swarm behaviors are difficult to counter without specialized tools, and a single swatted hand is unlikely to kill the insect struck. Additionally, their blood is acid, and swatting or crushing them causes a caustic release which can melt metal joints, fingers, and anything else unfortunate enough to touch them. This generally isn’t enough to destroy armor, but weakens the integrity significantly (fewer shots from a traditional weapon then required to destroy the armor in question and kill the target behind it). General flow against robots and power-armor look as follows: Turn 1: Wasps deployed with a noticeable swarm on target. Turn 3: Wasps find joints, vents, and other weak points to burrow through. Stinging begins. In the case of robots, some wasps begin to be crushed and fried by internals, releasing harmful acid. Turn 4: The swelling and internal damage are now at the point where knee and elbow use are restricted. Victims are in immense pain or receiving catastrophic system failure warnings. Turn 6: Victim is incapacitated by swelling and in incredible pain. In the case of robots, catastrophic system failure warrants emergency shutdown. Conditional Abilities (Optional): The stings cause swelling and extreme, debilitating pain. This takes very little time to become incapacitating, but generally only becomes lethal after 10+ minutes of continual wasp attack, and death is usually caused by suffocation from throat swelling, though other sources are possible. Androids and robots generally suffer catastrophic system failure in the same period as circuit disruptions fry some of the insects, releasing their acidic blood and melting critical core electronics. As a result of intentional bio-engineering, the venom of the wasps functions on Glitch much how it does on organics. The glitch immune response, finding this hostile compound in the viscous oily blood, also inflames in response. They suffer exactly as organics do, pain included. The pheromone marker included with the projectile marks the ‘new hive structure’, also known as the ‘poor victim.’ However, any others near the victim are then in ‘territory’, and are at risk of being stung and attacked. Each sting plants a small amount of pheromone, keeping the wasps (mostly) on target. The wasps have full lifespans and are capable of reproducing. If they successfully kill a victim, they make a nest of the corpse. Micro-cryochamber munitions are EMP-hardened to reduce unintentional wasp release. The flechette is attached to the battery and controller for the cryostasis unit, which remain with the gun and can potentially be repurposed or (if one has access to a wasp source) reused. In desperate times, the cryo-munitions can be thrown directly as a ‘wasp grenade’ by priming the cell to release and hurling it with the flechette still attached. However, without the ‘quick thaw’ of launching the projectile, they will require longer to become fully agitated (3 turns). The guns are nearly silent. The handgun has an effective range of 100 ft (30 m), while the rifle is effective up to 1000 ft (300 m). Limitations: The wasps have full lifespans and are highly territorial. This makes using them inside a building one intends to move through a poor idea. Smoke reduces the aggression of the wasps for a brief period. If exposed to smoke and in range of a pheromone source, they will rapidly swarm to the source and attempt to crawl inside to sleep away the smoke. The wasps themselves are still bugs. They can be smashed, crushed, burned, electrocuted, and otherwise killed normally. The acid blood can make this costly, painful, or even lethal - but they are still just bugs. The pheromone can be washed or wiped off, though wiping it off won’t stop a stinging swarm, as the stingers plant additional dots of pheromone. Conditional Limitations (Optional): The munitions are bulky, obscure to source, and difficult to manufacture. Damage to the cryocell or loaded gun can cause unintentional wasp release, which is very bad for the holder of such equipment. In rainy conditions, the wasps have difficulty flying and attacking, reducing their efficiency and often washing off the pheromone and causing them to lose track of their target. Wasps die in the vacuum of space. Due to being a ‘limited run’ experimental weapon, the Greenfinger efforts weaken after a generation. If a ‘hive corpse’ is left for a generation (one week), the next generation of wasps will lose the weaponized edge. The subsequent wasps will be roughly as dangerous as terran tarantula wasps. This 'genetic Greenfinger influence' is also what allows them to 'quick thaw' for weaponized deployment. Other wasps are not viable to load into the W.A.S.P. Wasps follow the largest pheromone source, which is (generally) placed by the initial projectile. The wasps can be outrun, though this requires 'committing to running away,' as they chase. Two full turns at a dead sprint is generally far enough to evade the insects via leaving their detection range, or utilizing other methods to rapidly move 30 feet. The acid is less harmful to organic compounds than inorganic. It will cause chemical burns to skin, but the primary danger to organics is the swelling and pain due to stings. This is what inflames joints to the point of non-use and eventually kills the target from suffocation. Traditional painkillers can reduce the pain, and creating an anti-venom with common hiking and first-aid field kits is not difficult, though this difficulty is compounded until the swarm is neutralized. How does it work: Utilizing Greenfinger expertise and complex bio-engineering, war wasps have been trained and specialized for the task of stinging and killing their target. The ‘guns’ themselves are low-tech flechette launchers designed for the large munitions of ‘cryo-chambers full of angry wasps’. The break-action handgun loads directly into the barrel, while the rifle utilizes a cylinder to hold more than one shot. The projectile itself is an aerodynamic tin device with a pheromone payload in the nose, and the wasp housing in the ‘body.’ On impact, the flechette is destroyed and left as tin scrap while the bugs, now free and angry and swarming their new territory, do their work. Part of the gun design is the ‘quick thaw’ mechanism, using the heat of launching the projectile to accelerate the unfreezing of the hornets. Flavor text: (Any additional information may be put here, such as history of its creation or discovery) “What the hell do you mean ‘you made the perfect weapon?’ It shoots fucking bugs!” The one result of the exceptionally obscure and secret ‘Greenworks’ project, blending Atlas engineering with Concord Greenfinger techniques, this weapon system was deemed ‘unfeasible’ for deployment in nearly all arenas. The one place it was greenlit - and the one organization that found the most interest in it - was the Department of Intelligence Collation and Knowledge. Attainability: Semi-closed. Atlas/Concord of Olympian Tribes joint project that ended with the designs and expertise to manufacture firmly under Atlas’ thumb. Tags: [Military] [Genetic] Category: Ranged Armaments (and ammo)
