TARAWA System
Telepathically-controlled Array of Rapid Action WeAponry (TARAWA)
Designed as a method of giving SDA psions more offensive potential both in in the wake of the growing tide of war facing the Terran Alliance, and the need for SDA-managed fire support against Spirit Beasts, the TARAWA System was conceived as a combination armament and mobility platform that could be mentally controlled by psionically-talented individuals. Developed in secret on Mars with the help of the Teuthidoids in late 2029 and early 2030, the TARAWA Initiative was an experiment aiming to combine Human drone platform tech, Soft AI, Teuthidoid biotech, and advances in Human weapons technology in order to give psionically-talented humans the ability to deal with a variety of different combat and threat environments.
Level 1
TARAWA System Standard Issue
At level 1, a user of the TARAWA System is issued a Base Harness, Standard Frame, and two of each of the following Wings: Flight, Heavy, Light, Medium, Rail, and their choice between either two Nano Missile Arrays, Riding Wings, or Swarm Missile Pods.
Controlled Wings
At level 1 a user of the TARAWA System is only able to to control two wings at once. This increases by two every four levels thereafter, maxing out at 10 wings at level 17.
Level 11
Defensive Wings
At level 11, a user of the TARAWA System learns to utilize their non-active, docked wings for defensive purposes. For every 2 docked wings you have, you receive a +2 bonus to your Reflex defense.
Level 15
Wing Burst
Starting at level 15, you have learned how to push your TARAWA system, and yourself, beyond your safety limits for a limited amount of time. As a swift action, you can control a full array of 12 Wings for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your character level (round down), and gain a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls with wings (but not when using the wings as handheld weapons). You take 12d8 nonlethal damage at the conclusion of this time.
Level 19
Wing Burst (Longer Duration)
Wing Burst now lasts a number of rounds equal to your character level.
Base Harness
The harness’s primary component is a non-intrusive trans-cranial interface mounted at the top of the harness, where it rests against the wearer’s brainstem. This device utilizes Teuthidoid biotech to provide passive feedback on the TARAWA system’s status by psionically transmitting it into the psion’s brainstem, leading to them simply ‘knowing’ the status of all components of the system as if it was just another part of their body. This interface also allows for the faster than normal response times needed to operate the system at its full potential by acting as a booster for the psion’s own power through the use of the secondary component of the harness.
The harness’s secondary component is a signal repeater, which duplicates any mental signals that the interface detects and sends them to all deployed components of the TARAWA system. The signal repeater is advanced Teuthidoid biotech, and is poorly understood by the Human scientists on the project. This allows the user to control multiple Wings simultaneously.
The tertiary component of the harness is a specially-adapted set of AR Gloves, which assist with the control of the system. These gloves can interface with a normal HUD device if needed.
Beyond this, the harness is a sleeveless vest, containing enough long-duration power cells to operate the interface for a full 24 hours before a 1-hour recharge using a standard recharger is required. On the backside of the vest is hardware that allows the harness to interface with the other major component of the TARAWA system – the Frame. Initial synchronization with the harness and any Wings currently comprising the system’s Array takes 30 seconds (5 rounds) of full-round meditation.
Frame
The Frame is a small boxlike structure, about the size of an average backpack, with racks projecting outwards from the sides of the box – each rack has a set of docking stations. Inside the box is a large amount of high-capacity batteries and cargo space for ammunition for Wings. The docking stations are outfitted with rapid-recharging equipment, and the boxlike structure has armatures that it uses to reload ammunition into Wings. Several varieties of Frames have been developed, each with different capabilities.
Standard Frame
This frame has 12 docking stations, allowing for the greatest flexibility in Array load-out, but provides no bonuses beyond this. This frame contains 100 power units for recharging wings, and 20 cargo units for reloading wings.
Flight Frame
This frame is more aerodynamic, and is optimized for rapid transit across a battlefield through the use of flight wings. It has 8 normal docking stations, 2 docking stations dedicated for flight wings, and 2 permanently-installed flight wings. While using flight wings to fly, this frame has a base speed of 2 squares higher then normal, and the enhanced flight control systems provide a +5 bonus to the user’s Pilot checks. This frame contains 175 power units for recharging wings, and 15 cargo units for reloading wings.
Combat Frame
This frame is optimized for direct combat purposes. It has 6 normal docking stations, 2 docking stations dedicated to DEW Wings, 2 docking stations dedicated to Rail Wings, and 2 docking stations dedicated to Light, Medium, or Heavy Wings. Due to its larger then normal size to accommodate a larger cargo capacity, it flies 2 squares slower then normal when using flight wings to fly. This frame contains 100 power units for recharging wings, and 35 cargo units for reloading wings.
Endurance Frame
This frame is designed for long-duration battles, primarily through the use of DEW and RAIL wings, but it will also support Light, Medium, and Heavy wings during these battles if provided with in-field ammunition reloads. It has 6 normal docking stations, 2 docking stations dedicated to Flight Wings, 2 docking stations dedicated to DEW Wings, and 2 docking stations dedicated to Rail Wings. Due to its larger then normal size to accommodate a larger power cell capacity, it flies 1 square slower then normal when using flight wings to fly. This frame contains 175 power units for recharging wings, and 20 cargo units for reloading wings.
Cargo and Power Units
Cargo and Power Units are a method of tracking ammunition and power for Wings. All wings consume Power Units at specified rates while active, and all ranged weaponry wings (with the exception of the two variants of missile pods) are reloaded using Cargo Units.
Wings
Wings provide the actual offensive and utility potential of the TARAWA system, so to speak. While inactive, each Wing is about 1.25 meters long, and roughly shaped like an obtuse triangle, with streamlined – or sharpened in some cases – edges. The overall shape suggests a very narrow lifting body, but in reality the shape produces very little lift and the Wing itself is kept in their air through vectored thrust engines and inertial fields, like most airspeeders are. When activated, a Wing will deploy additional components dependent on the type of Wing it is, and opens engine and thruster ports for mobility.
All wings have a Telepathic Receiver System, which is a genetically-engineered block of neurons built into a neural network which constitutes a sort of organic computer. Running on this 'computer' is a specially-adapted, Teuthidoid-made AI (of sorts). This AI's purpose is solely to take instructions transmitted telepathically to it from either the psion using the system or the signal repeater they are attuned to and control the Wing based on those instructions – as such these AI have no designations or names, since they lack the ability to communicate. Terran Alliance engineers aren't even sure if these intelligences merit being called AI, since they're closer to primitive biological intelligences than Terran AI. Each Wing is equipped with basic sensor systems, including visual light cameras, which can be accessed by the psion for sensor input, but doing so blinds them in terms of using their own eyes.
Functionally, Wings are Small 4th-Degree Drones, except for the Flight Wing and Riding Wing, which are 3rd-Degree Drones.
Wings are supplied via Resource Units, which come in Power Units, which represent a combination of electricity and thruster fuel, and Cargo Units, which represent ammunition. Power units are primarily used to power the Wing’s flight – as such, a Wing will automatically return to the Frame when it has only 1 Power Unit remaining (unless overridden as a free action).
There are a variety of different Wing designs.
DEW Wing
The DEW Wing (short for Directed Energy Weapon) represents the closest mankind has come to a production-ready man-portable directed energy weapon. At the core of the DEW Wing is a small deuterium fluoride laser system, based on the successful Artemis-class Bombardment Laser. This laser system functions as a heavy weapon which deals 4d10x2 Energy damage, plus half your level and any other applicable bonuses for a heavy weapon, with a Single-shot firing rate. While controlling this Wing, you are treated as proficient with this weapon. The DEW Wing can also be used as a man-portable Large-size Heavy Weapon, in which case it does 5d10x2 damage since it can channel energy normally meant for propulsion systems into the attack instead. The beam fired by the DFL system is in the infrared range, and is therefore not visible to the unaided eye. Infrared cameras inside the drone allow you to use this weapon without penalty while it is deployed, but a user not attuned to the Array who uses it in the man-portable function incurs a -4 penalty to attack unless you have some way of seeing in the infrared, such as the use of an Infrared Sensor eye implant. While deployed, a DEW Wing moves with a fly speed of 4 squares.