User:Studenterhue/Nanotrasen Security Operative

After the destruction of Space Station 12, Space Station 13's administrator decided to increase security and requested that their higher-ups send a Nanotrasen Special Operative, an elite enforcer with years of experience under their belt and a famous hi-tech weapon next to it. Unfortunately, due a clerical error, NT gave them a Nanotrasen Security Operative instead, sending some poor unfortunate bastard who just finished their training and arming them with old surplus weapons that were theoretically supposed to be scrapped, not reused or resold to shady dealers.

That's not to totally dismiss them, though. NT Security Operatives have absolutely earned their position. Anyone plays this late-join only job either:

• A) has the game knowledge and trustworthiness to be a Mentor and thus have the privilege to try this job on Fridays or:
• B) has the security expertise to be a Head of Security full-time and thus have this job always available.

which in both cases are respectable positions to be in. While there are better alternatives to their starting equipment, their armament ensures they're ready to bring order to chaos as soon as the moment they arrive.

As Security personnel, Nanotrasen Security Operatives cannot spawn as a Antagonist. They cannot be converted to a Revolution, cannot awaken as a sleeper agent, and cannot join a Gang.

Integrity & Trust, Service & Order: Your Duties

As a Nanotrasen Security Operative, you share the same duties as all Security personnel, which can distilled into four virtues that neatly spell out NTSO if you capitalize them a certain way:

• iNtegrity: Communicate and cooperate with your fellow Security personnel and be each other's keepers. Is someone executing suspects without permission from higher-ups? Running around with weapons drawn when they don't intend to use them? Detaining people for longer than necessary? Incompetent and tyrannical Security hurts everyone, especially Security, and if you don't speak out about it, who will?
• Trust: Show the crew you're someone they can rely on and trust. When they're wounded and dying, bring them to Medbay and give them aid. Most importantly, when they call for help, answer. Speaking of which...
• Service: Enforce Space Law to the best of your ability. It's not always easy, and the best choice isn't always clear. There's times it's better to leave the guy making flamers alone so the crew can fight the Blob or to let a guy who keeps taking people's shoes free so you can focus on capturing a guy who's taking lives. That Staff Assistant might call you "shitcurity" for arresting them for hacking into Chemistry, but the Scientists there will be infinitely thankful that they won't have to worry about break-ins for a while thanks to you. Sometimes, you have to decide between pursuing a mad bomber who's crackling maniacally over the radio or a silent assassin who keeps leaving fiber wire victims in their wake. It can be tough, but if you've made it far enough in your Sec career to earn the privilege of being NTSO, you can no doubt handle it.
• Order: At the end of the day, Security is a force of order against the chaos spread by antagonists and other crimers. The interaction, particularly conflict, between Sec, crew, and antags creates the dynamic that drives the round. The more people involved, and the more they participate, the more fun everyone has!

The Chain of Command and You

The NanoTrasen Security Operative is first and foremost a member of the Security Department, this means that you will need to adhere to Space Law and the station security's Chain of Command. Below is a very abridged version of what that looks like specifically for you:

• Command Staff: (Captain, Head of Security, Head of Personnel, Chief Engineer, Research Director, Medical Director)
• NanoTrasen Security Officer: (That's you!)
• Security Officer

So as a part of the Security Department you should obey orders from your Head of Security and Captain, should the HoS be unavailable or dead. If anything, think of yourself as an Executive Officer or Lieutenant for the HoS, carrying out their orders and assisting them. In terms of your own authority, you can authorize executions, but only if the HoS and Captain are unable to. You should be as judicious about it as you would when playing HoS, probably even more so because you have less authority than the HoS or Captain.

Ready to Kick Ass & Take Names: Your Equipment

The Clock 188

One of your starting guns is a Clock 188, a 18-round kinetic pistol with single-shot and full-auto modes. This is an interesting weapon, with an interesting history, in that it's less-than-lethal gun (so potential lethal capability) whose most notable trait is prodigious fire rate. Rather than stuns, each bullet inflicts rather negligible stamina damage and Slowed, which significantly reduces movement speed, even when sprinting. They don't cause bleeding, but since it's a kinetic bullet, it does inflict Staggered, which also slows people down even when sprinting, though not as much as Slowed.

Some aspects of the Clock put it a cut above the rest. Even in single-shot, the Clock fires much faster than the taser, with the full-auto mode firing even faster if you click quickly enough, and unlike the taser, its shots can hit people lying prone on the ground. Its ample magazine size means you can afford to miss a few shots or shoot someone a few more times to secure an arrest. Plus, it's a kinetic: it's faster and easier to get more mags for the Clock than to buy/craft more cells for an energy weapon or wait for it to recharge.

The downsides? While each bullet is weak, the damage can stack up, so you often need some Doctoring done on the patient. Plus, it's a kinetic: once you've depleted the AmmoTech and SecTechs, that's it, unless the Mechanics make you more of the machines or you order a Security Vending Machine Restocking Pack.

At least, ammo is not terribly rare. Each magazine has 18 rounds, and your gun starts fully loaded. Each SecTech has 2 mags, so you have 36 more shots in each one, and the AmmoTech has 3 more, though they're behind HoS-access by default. Each map has at least one SecTech, and every map except Atlas has an AmmoTech, so you have at least 90 more shots, bringing you up to a total of 108 rounds.

The bullets' movement penalties can potentially allow the Clock to substitute for a taser in the classic taser-stun baton combo. Shoot a perp with it, walk up to them while they're reeling from the slowdown from Slowed, Staggered, and injury penalty, then wack 'em with a melee stun, say from your starting baton. Don't forget to heal the brute damage afterward though. Then, after detaining them, you can rub it in their face by giving them twenty (swirlies).

The Extendable Stun Baton

Compared to your guns, your extendable stun baton is comparatively simple. It's just like a regular stun baton from the sec weapons vendor, but with only a 150 PU battery, which translates into 6 uses at max charge. Speaking of charge, you can't swap out its cell, but it recharges by itself. This reduces your dependence on rechargers,which might be hard to come by if the station is bombed. As with its bigger brother, it's a melee stun weapon that works best if you hit them with a ranged stun and then baton them while they're slowed down, though it has a few things that help it stand out.

First, it can collapse to fit in your pockets, freeing up some inventory space in your backpack and/or belt item. You can activate it in-hand to extend it and ready it for attack; the order goes from collapsed->extended, on, inflicts stamina damage->extended, off, causes brute damage->collapsed. Protip: keep it at collapsed. Extending the baton will remind you to switch to the intent most appropriate for the situation.

Second, if you throw it at a perp while it's extended and on and land the hit, they'll lose a fair chunk of stamina, slowing them down; if it manages to take them below 0 stamina, it'll even knock them to the floor for a while. If you're quick, you might even be able to reclaim your baton and go in for a melee hit with it. If you don't land the throw...well, you just gave someone a free weapon. That they might throw back at you to stun you. Good thing you have another weapon, right?

Finally, the special attacks are different. When the baton is extended and off, the special attack is simply swinging the baton in melee, rather than ineffectively trying to release sparks. When it's extended and on, the swing causes 2-5 BURN and raises the target's temperature by 4 degrees, and remember, the baton's on, so this is on top of the usual Disorient and major stamina drain. This depletes 50 PU from the cell. While these might seem dull, remember, they're still special attacks: while aiming can be tricky, they let you hit things without actually clicking on the sprite, something you might appreciate if the target has a small hitbox or is hiding under something. Basically, rather than giving a little ranged capability like the standard stun baton, its special attacks make it easier to land hits in melee.

The Operative Uniform

In your special blue NT backpack you get an iconic blue NanoTrasen specialist helmet and combat dress. In addition to looking distinctly ~tacticool~, the whole set also protects you from Space and the Trench, with zero movement penalty. Combined with a high chance of getting an emergency O2 tank in the box in your (also special) NanoTrasen backpack, you're well-prepared for oxygen-less environments. While regular Security Officers might turn back at a hull breach, you can continue marching through, and if someone tries to escape into Space, you can pursue them.

In addition to having your guns, baton, and pouch, the secbelt you spawn with also has a NT-SO gas mask. It works like a regular gas mask (e.g. reduces effect of aerosol and smoke powder clouds), but it has more Disorient (Eye) resistance, so it slightly protects you from bright lights. In addition, on your pair of eyes is a pair of SecHUDs and on your pair of hands is a pair of NT-blue SWAT gloves. When blocking, the gloves boost your chance to deflect an attack, nullifying it, to the point it'll occur more often than not.

Finally, instead of a red jacket, you spawn wearing a NT-SO jumpsuit, an iconic yet unfortunately blandly named turtleneck that's one of the few good things to come out of the Elite Security era. While its resistances and other stats are average, it's quite stylish and looks great on spacepeople of all skin tones, hair styles, and hair colors. Plus, it pairs very well with your NT Beret. Wear them proudly. You made it, kid.

Other Amenities

Don't forget, you start with normal access Security Officer + Bridge access. While you can't access the Armory or its contents without giving enough authorizations at the armory auth computer like the other Security personnel, you can still use the SecTechs and Sec equipment lockers. While Bridge access won't let you into the AI Upload, it does let you use the Communications Console and thus call the escape shuttle.

In addition to your Clock, Signifer, and NT-SO gas mask, your starting secbelt also has a "tacticool pouch". This pouch has four slots, and it begins with a pair of handcuffs, two pairs of ziptie cuffs, and a candy heart with an endearing message. Perhaps you can swap out some things for extra magazines or some such.

Your backpack also has a basic first aid kit. It's not much, but there's enough that you can at least make it to Medbay for treatment. When you need to heal yourself or someone else, you'll be glad you had it.

On of top of all the gear above, there's also a whole bunch of other items. Like all Security personnel, a Security Badge, because you can't turn in your badge and gun if you only have one but not both. Also, your PDA has the R.O.B.U.S.T.E.R. cartridge, so it has more apps than the one Security Officers get. Finally, you have a health implant in you.

Supplementary Video

i like this vid but the reason it's here is because NT-SO is mildly military and this video is about military people being dumb. i guess you can also see a "NT-SO is trigger-happy, like the guy in the vid" link, but it's not really established in the player base or, more importantly, this page.
shooting people and then batoning them is almost like what you can do in Deus Ex--maybe something like that?
ideal vid: clip from a special forces military humor show