Cyber-Vipers

F Gd 10

A Gd 10

S Gd 10

E Ex 20

R Ex 20

I Ex 20

P Gd 10

Res Rm 30

Pop Gd -10

Health: Karma:

50 50

Origin:

The small, elite ranks of the Cyber-Vipers are formerly normal Cobras who have been... augmented by Doctor Mindbender. With numerous implants and replacement limbs, the Cyber-Vipers have the brains and the muscle required to oversee the doctor's experiments!

Known Powers:

(none)

Cybernetics:

The source of their tremendous prowess, their advanced intellects aside, Cobra's Cyber-Vipers are cybernetically augmented soldiers. Rare due to both the exorbitant cost and qualifications to become one, Cyber-Vipers nonetheless feature the following, common cybernetics:

* Atomic Sensors: built into their lower arms, Cyber-Vipers have specialized air intakes that can analyze the local atmosphere to determine several things about it. Working at Good (10) ability, they can easily identify airborne toxins and dangerous ambient conditions.

* Cyber Arm: standard-issue Cyber-Viper implants include a replacement for their left arm, starting a few inches below their shoulder. These Remarkable (30) m.s. replacement parts allow Cyber-Vipers to carry and fire their missile launchers with no undue stress to their bodies.

* Cyber Leg: each Cyber-Viper has a robotic left leg, replacing their original a few inches below their hip joints. These Remarkable (30) m.s. augmented limbs allow Cyber-Vipers a +2 CS to their Endurance for the purposes of running, including exhaustion.

* Direct Neural Interface: Cyber-Vipers have a specialized port tied directly to their brains, allowing them to mentally control any devices with a compatible link. This Typical (6) computer link improves a Cyber-Viper's reaction time, but affects their personalities.

By itself, the DNI only adds one point to a Cyber-Viper's IPS (see below). However, items a Cyber-Viper plugs into add their own IPS value to his or her own, which places them at a much greater risk of experiencing an 'episode' of ultra-violence while on the job.

Limitations / Enhancements:

Implant Psychosis Statistic: like all electromechanically augmented beings, Cyber-Vipers are subject to this dreadful neurological condition. To avoid its side effects, a Cyber-Viper must pass a Psyche FEAT against the intensity of their IPS whenever they are under duress.

This FEAT is never automatic, and its failure will cause a Cyber-Viper to lose control of themselves. Such failure transforms them from their usual, detached state into one fraught with manic rage! When they aren't plugged into other devices, a Cyber-Viper has a base IPS of Poor (4).

Equipment:

Bullet-resistant Vest: woven with advanced fabrics and bolstered by armored inserts, this vest acts to dampen the lethality of incoming rounds. Any Shooting damage striking a Cyber-Viper in the chest is transduced into Blunt Attack damage, losing 1 CS of its power while doing so.

Flamethrower: since the beasts they work with often get twitchy, Cyber-Vipers carry flamethrowers to keep them in line. The burning gel they fire can hose down anything within a thirty degree arc in their current area, gel that inflicts Excellent (20) 2x SD Energy damage.

Helmet: like most helmets, those worn by the Cyber-Vipers protect their craniums from physical attack with Good (10) ability. But unlike the rest, Cyber-Vipers' headgear contains a powerful computer system that greatly augments their abilities in real-time.

Their own computer link can be used via a Cyber-Viper's DNI to directly connect with the internet via any available connection, allowing them to send data to and receive orders from headquarters, and lets them track the location of Bio- and Monstro-Vipers in their vicinity.

Furthermore, the visor on the Cyber-Viper helmet greatly enhances their sensory perception. The imaging systems on these visors process information from the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums, functioning as effective Infravision and Ultravision at Good (10) rank. IPS addition: +3.

Knife: because even the most primitive tools have their uses, Cyber-Vipers always carry a blade with them in the field. They can use these implements, of Remarkable (30) m.s., to cut through items of up to like m.s., given enough time, or to inflict Edged Attack damage in melee.

Machine Guns: Cyber-Vipers always carry a fully automatic weapon in the field. They can discharge one round to inflict Typical (6) Shooting damage, a short burst of such to inflict Good (10) Shooting damage, or be fired continuously to inflict Excellent (20) Shooting damage.

Missile Launcher: when facing foes powerful enough to threaten defeat to Cobra's Bio- or Monstro-Vipers, it pays to bring heavy ordnance. Cyber-Vipers are each issued a one-handed launcher, which their implants allow them to wield, whose projectiles function as follows:

C Ex 20

S Am 50

B Ex 20

Damage Rm 30 Edged Attack

Nuclear Grenades: most Cobras aren't foolish enough to carry radioactive weapons. Cyber-Vipers lack this fear, however, and carry small dirty bombs they can fling within their normal range, which explode to inflict Remarkable (30) 2x SD Energy damage via nuclear contaminaton.

Quirks:

Repugnant Personality: the surgery Doctor Mindbender performs on the brains of prospective Cyber-Vipers changes their personalities. Often referred to as 'cold fish', Cyber-Vipers may seem almost robotic at times, and must pass a Psyche FEAT at -2 CS to show any empathy.

Talents:

Additional Skill: while their innate intellect is common to all Cyber-Vipers, they wouldn't have been chosen to be Doctor Mindbender's assistants if they didn't have the skill to back it up. Each Cyber-Viper will have at least one scientific talent on top of the below.

Guns: all Cobra operatives have the ability to wield firearms in combat, and Cyber-Vipers are no exception to this rule. They may discharge any standard, semi-automatic, or fully automatic rifle or pistol as if their Agility was +1 CS higher than is listed above.

Martial Arts type A or B: furthermore, Cyber-Vipers are well-versed in the art of self-defense. They either wield type a, allowing them to Slam or Stun foes regardless of their comparative Strength or Endurance, or b, granting them a +1 CS to hit in unarmed combat.

Military: Cyber-Vipers most definitely have this talent, having proven themselves to Cobra before they earned this rank. It allows them to function effectively within a combat unit, and gives them considerable insight into Cobra's byzantine organizational structure.

Contacts:

As members of Cobra who have proven themselves to the organization, Cyber-Vipers can theoretically consider the entire organization a reliable contact. They tend to be unpopular, though, which causes them to lose support in the field often, despite the cost of 'building' one.

Costume:

The Cyber-Viper field uniform is intentionally conspicuous. It is comprised of red trousers (save for where their cyber leg protrudes), a gray vest worn over a neon green T-shirt (save for where their cyber arm protrudes), gray leather boots, green leather belts, and a neon yellow helmet.

Notes:

To become a Cyber-Viper, one must be a Cobra operative in good standing, one who has already proven effective in the tasks they've been assigned. Furthermore, they must meet the stringent requirements, which include a fair modicum of intelligence and proven scientific training.

Those Cobras who can make the grade, often Techno-Vipers who excel in their field, are eligible to become Cyber-Vipers. Those candidates who show interest in the job are apparised by Doctor Mindbender himself, and if they meet his highly subjective approval, they're in!

These unfortunate souls are then put to the knife by their new boss, who radically augments their bodies and their brains, all the better to serve as assistants in the perpetration of his various unethical experiments. Heck, the initial Cyber-Vipers were such experiments!

Once he's done, and has sunk millions of dollars into his would-be help, Doctor Mindbender unleases each new Cyber-Viper into his labs. They help him complete the immense workload that Cobra Commander gives him, and assist the mad Doctor in numerous 'side' projects of his.

One such project was the creation of powerful new soldiers crafted via radical genetic engineering. This first batches of genemod soldiers became Cobra's Bio-Vipers and Monstro-Vipers, whose obvious inhumanity made them ineligible for covert work, but great instruments of terror!

Cyber-Vipers typically don't lead these abominations of science in the field, however, leaving such work to Cobra's Mega-Vipers. The Cyber-Vipers maintain control of Cobra's monsters when they're not rampaging against others, though, all while maintaining their facilities.

While the job pays well enough, Cyber-Vipers aren't compensated nearly enough for the loss of their own humanity. The operations that make them forever mark Cyber-Vipers as monsters as well, and the work on their brains often, but not always, makes them cold and robotic.

For some Cobras, though, being enhanced is more than worth the cost to their bodily integrity.

2010 Variations

Equipment:

the Deviant: built from stolen GI Joe plans, the Deviant is a heavily modified variation on the Steel Marauder. A large mecha, the Deviant features combat arms different from its ancestor, as well as a DNI for its pilots. The Deviant is described in its own vehicular entry.

Costume:

The second Cyber-Viper uniform is more subdued. Primarily burgundy in hue, it features a jacket and trousers of like color, which are accented with black leather boots and gloves, black knee, shoulder, and thigh pads, silver and black belts and vests, and a large black helmet.

Extra Goodies:

Cobra directories featuring a version of Cyber-Vipers:

1993

2010

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