Equipment
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Mask
One of the more common items of equipment the Yautja wear is distinctive headgear which serves multiple functions. The basic mask worn by lower-caste warriors offers protection during combat, and houses a respirator which provides (or supplements) breathable gases. It is also capable of being used underwater similar to scuba gear.
The higher-caste mask performs the functions of the basic version, but also contains other abilities.
It can filter through five basic visual settings: infrared, ultraviolet, thermal imaging, air density pressure (movement), and a special vision that is fine-tuned to the unique electro-chemical signature of xenomorphs.
Each mode of vision using the controls on the wrist-computer (located in the gauntlet of the off-hand), or by pressing buttons inside the mask with tusks. The controls are customized by the individual, and can be changed in a few minutes. If using the buttons in the mask, each vision mode has to be cycled through; using the wrist-computer, a specific vision mode can be selected without having to go through the others.
Housed within the helmet is an extensive array of surveillance equipment, including a waveform analyzer. This analyzer displays a waveform of a targeted source of sound, and can be used to indicate the direction of the source. The analyzer can also take sounds and break them down into their aural components, to help the individual study the sounds. If a language, it helps the individual learn the language, if to varying degrees. Lastly, the analyzer is capable of detecting a whisper at a hundred feet.
The mask also houses a targeting and tracking system for any shoulder-mounted weaponry, connecting to the laser sight typically incorporated into the mask over one temple or the other. This laser sight is also a crude sensor, capable of performing basic calculations of distance, and such similar.
The mask can record all events in a hundred-and-twenty-degree radius, enabling the Yautja to see playback video of anything in that radius, up to thirty-minutes' worth of recording.
Lastly, the mask is not only a functional piece of protection, but also a personal identifier. Each mask is customized by its owner in some way, and is presented with their first set of armor. -
Armor
Light and maneuverable, the alloy plating is composed of a compound some elements thereof not found on Terran periodic tables and is chemically treated to resist acidic xenomorph blood. In addition to the plating, leather makes up the rest of the armor, to keep it all as light as possible. -
Body Mesh
This is a basic "wire" mesh, worn under a warrior's armor. Running off of the battery, it can keep the Yautja's body temperature at a steady one hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit, or seventy-one degrees Celsius, even in sub-arctic or post-desert temperatures. The mesh is tied into the cloaking, so that when the cloaking is activated, the Yautja's body temperature is masked as well. The effect, by those with the ability to detect heat signatures, is that they fade into the background. -
Shoulder Cannon
The shoulder cannon is a mounted and light-weight weapon capable of firing long-range energy bursts of charged plasma. It is controlled via the targeting system in the helmet, and tracks with the head movement of the individual. After a lock-on is achieved, the weapon can track that target independently of the movement of the mask. It can be used with the laser sight to increase targeting capacity, and is fired either by a mandible-controlled trigger in the helmet or by the forearm-mounted control panel. It can pivot and swivel to point in any direction, and has a range of four hundred feet. -
Wrist Blades
The wrist-blades are the weapon of choice for most Yautja. Twin blades (or, occasionally, triple blades) with jagged double edges and sharp enough to tear through bone, are effective against large and small opponents. The blades range from anywhere between twelve and eighteen inches long and are retractable from a wrist gauntlet on the dominant forearm. They are forged from an unknown alloy which is almost unbreakable, and are immune to acidic xenomorph blood as long as exposure to the blood isn't prolonged. -
Wrist Computer
Aside from the many uses for the wrist computer mentioned elsewhere, one of the most well-known is the self-destruct mechanism. After the device has been set, there is a one-minute countdown until the detonation of a micro-nuclear explosion. -
Staff
The staff is a self-powered telescoping mechanism that is merely one meter at its shortest length, but extends to three meters. The staff makes a formidable weapon for close range attacks, due to its length customization and can also be thrown as a spear. Made of nearly unbreakable alloys, sharpened tips on either end produce electrical charges as it slices through nearly any surface. -
Medical Kit
In the lighted case, there is one shrapnel extractor, auto burner dish, four wound clamps, spatula, two vials super antiseptic (acidic enzyme, which when combined with silicon (glass/sand),and limestone (chalk/tile/et cetera), forms a form of biological mortar that can patch any wound from a bullet hole to a severed limb). The case has a twelve hour rechargeable battery. -
Smart Disc
One of the most advanced pieces of equipment carried by the Yautja, the smart disc is internally powered and can be held in the hand, or thrown at an opponent. This device is capable of cutting through most substances with its devastating razor edges, and is powerful enough to cut through multiple targets with one throw, controlled via targets selected and input into the smart disc's internal computer before being thrown. Computer-controlled gyros guarantee that the disc returns to its wielder unless it becomes embedded in a solid material. -
Net Gun
The net gun is small and usually reserved for ambushing a group of prey, or when entering a major combat area and the temporary incapacitation of a subject is necessary. The net gun is not a projectile weapon per se, instead launching a web of razor-sharp wire connected to small darts powerful enough to propel a target to the floor or wall and once pinning them there, the net retracts into the darts, viciously cutting into the flesh. If the target tries to struggle the damage increases, and this keeps up until the subject is released or is killed. The net can be released via controls on the net gun or from the wrist computer. -
Battery
Housed on the back of the armor, typically beneath the shoulder cannon, is the battery that powers nearly everything the Yautja uses. Fully charged, it can be run constantly for over fifteen hours before it's depleted. In the field, it can be recharged via solar power. Once the battery is removed from its compartment on the back-plate of the armor, small solar panels can be deployed. Extremely efficient, they can garner energy even from starlight, though it gathers only approximately a tenth as much energy. Left out in full sunlight, it can be completely recharged from depleted in two hours. Hooked up to an energy port in the ship, the battery will be fully charged from depleted in a half-hour. The battery can also be used while recharging with either method, but it will dramatically increase time to completion of recharge.
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Camouflage Cloak
By bending light waves around the wearer, the suit makes them practically indistinguishable from the environment. However, it doesn't grant true invisibility. An alert opponent would be able to notice the heatwave-like shimmer; when the Yautja is standing still, only someone with nigh-supernatural vision or standing less than a yard away would be able to see that shimmer. That shimmering especially noticeable when the wearer is moving, and becomes more easily detected the faster the Yautja moves; at a full sprint, a noticeable outline can easily be seen by an average human from dozens of yards away.
This ability also only affects vision, in no way dampening sound or reducing the smell of the Yautja. Creatures whose perception is not based on reflected light will not suffer (E.G., the xenomorphs have no eyes), or possibly even be able to tell a difference. The individual is totally visible using most forms of ultrasound-based techniques, ultraviolet beam radar, or personal radar.
This is all-or-nothing; the Yautja cannot cloak only part of themself while leaving another part visible, save where noted below.
As for weapons, only mounted weapons are affected by the cloak. This includes concealed weapons like retracted wrist blades, collapsed spears or other weapons kept hidden by backpacks and so forth. Once extended or revealed, the weapon is visible. For example, if the wrist-blades are extended, the blades are visible, even as the rest of the Yautja is not.
The cloaking matrix is notoriously unstable in water, and getting wet while cloaked will shut it down. It is also conceivable that the suit would be ineffective in environments saturated with particulate material surrounding the wearer such as heavy fog, rain, or dust. When water touches the suit, it destabilizes the cloaking matrix, causing what looks like arcs of electricity to run across the Yautja. Once the water is removed from the suit, it takes no less than five full minutes for the cloaking matrix to re-stabilize.
