User:Nefarious6th
The Syndicate Weapon: Orion Retribution Device, or S.W.O.R.D. for short, is a boss critter that appears on the station Z-level with the initiation of the random Syndicate Retribution Event, which is a major event type. In order for the event to start, a few criteria must first be met, and there are some exclusions to when and where the S.W.O.R.D. can be summoned:
- A Makeshift Syndicate Signaller must be created and the 8 metadata slots must all be filled, and then the signaller can call the S.W.O.R.D. to the station (this method is currently disabled for now, but exists in the code)
- The S.W.O.R.D. and the Syndicate Retribution Event can both be seen on the Classic Servers, but are not available to spawn on the RP Servers
- The S.W.O.R.D. and the Syndicate Retribution Event can only show up after a round has progressed past 40 minutes long
- The S.W.O.R.D. and the Syndicate Retribution Event can both only show up once per round
- At least 30 crew members must be alive for the S.W.O.R.D. to be able to spawn
- Of the entire living crew, 8% or less must have antagonist status for the Syndicate Retribution Event to be in the pool of random major events
- The S.W.O.R.D. cannot appear on restricted Z-levels
Summoning S.W.O.R.D.
Though removed from the current methods of activation for the S.W.O.R.D. for players, there exists a method to summon the S.W.O.R.D. for players seeking a challenge or an additional asset to their nefarious goals with the hel of a Makeshift Syndicate Signaller. It is currently only available from admin spawns.
Makeshift Syndicate Signaller
You will need:
A Remote Signaller
1 length of cable coil
A multitool
1 metal sheet
A wrench
To make:
- Attach the cable coil to the Remote Signaller. There should be a little wire hanging
out the bottom of the Makeshift Signaller Frame now.
- Use a multitool on the Makeshift Signaller to attune to the wiring.
- Use a metal sheet on the Signaller to make a circuit board port.
- Secure everything with a wrench to create a Makeshift Syndicate Signaller.
In practice, what would happen is that one could take circuit boards like the ones dropped by fishdrones on Manta or Oshan, or destroy a non-aquatic drone in the Debris Field to gain metadata that would make the Makeshift Syndicate Signaller usable. 
There would be eight metadata slots to fill, with each circuit board used or each drone destroyed granting one slot of filled metadata. Each used circuit board would produce a Fried Syndicate Circuit Board. 
If no metadata slots are filled, no green lights will appear to be on when looking at the signaller. For every metadata slot filled, a green light will turn on on the signaller, with a total of four lights one once all the metadata slots are filled. When the signaller's metadata slots are full, a red light will blink on the upper right of the signaller.
Those with access to an Emag can also use the Emag on the Makeshift Syndiacte Signaller to randomly fill between two and seven of the metadata slots. This can only be done once. A red light would start blinking on the Makeshift Syndicate Signaller to indicate that it is active and ready to call the S.W.O.R.D. to its location. After use, the Signaller would break. 
Retribution
When the event starts, an event alert message is sent to all players 15 seconds after it begins, informing the crew of an unidentified long-range beacon near the station. The S.W.O.R.D. spawns somewhere on the station as an inactive beacon that is not capable of being moved. Two minutes after that the S.W.O.R.D. activates and a second alert announcement is sent to all players on the server telling them that a Syndicate-made object is aboard the station and that the crew is to survive however possible. The S.W.O.R.D. has high health and many attacks that deal moderate to high amounts of damage, even one with the potential for gibbing players that fall into the center of the attack radius, so organizing your crewmates and stocking up on useful weapons and medical supplies is essential. The S.W.O.R.D. is meant to be fought with the full force of the crew.
S.W.O.R.D. Abilities
The S.W.O.R.D. comes equipped with three different types of abilities: Anchored, Unanchored, and Universal. Anchored abilities can only be used by the S.W.O.R.D. when it is set in its anchored mode, but this does not necessarily mean that the S.W.O.R.D. has to be static on a tile and not moving. Unachored abilities can only be used by the S.W.O.R.D. when it has transformed to its unanchored mode. Universal abilities can be used by the S.W.O.R.D. when it is in either its Anchored or Unanchored configurations. The S.W.O.R.D. will activate an ability every two seconds. The chat window and combat log will show which player the S.W.O.R.D. is targeting on with each ability used.
| Ability Type | Ability Name | Sprite | Boost to incoming damage taken by the S.W.O.R.D. | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchored | Linear Purge |  |
x 1.50 | The S.W.O.R.D. will begin to glow red, and after charging for 1.5 seconds, it will lock orientation and unleash a beam that destroys walls and floors for 10 tiles in front of it. This beam is very deadly for both silicons and non-silicons. Silicons can expect to take damage equal to 80-90% of their maximum health in BURN damage if they're directly in the beam. Non-silicons can easily fall into critical if they're caught in the laser. |
| Gyrating Edge |  |
x 0.50 | The S.W.O.R.D. rotates clockwise or counter-clockwise dealing mild BURN and BRUTE damage to those within 5 tiles in any direction. | |
| Destructive Leap |  |
x 0.75 | The S.W.O.R.D. will glow purple and leap at the target, causing breaches to the station. Being behind the S.W.O.R.D. will deal BURN damage and set nearby players on fire. Being in the center of the S.W.O.R.D.'s leap trajectory deals massive BRUTE damage and is likely to gib you outright. Others standing in any of the affected tiles will take massive BRUTE damage too. Stuns anyone caught in the attack path for 1 second and weakens them for 4 seconds. Has a chance to delimb. | |
| Unanchored | Heat Reallocation |  |
x 1.25 | The S.W.O.R.D. glows red across the entirety of the mob, between the external armor plates. Anyone adjacent to the mob will be set on fire for up to 8 seconds. |
| Energy Absorption |  |
x 1.25 | The S.W.O.R.D. will shield itself with an orange armor overlay and become immune to BURN damage for 12 seconds. Attacking with things that deal BURN damage while the S.W.O.R.D. is immune leads to it raising its stored heat value, which influences how long it sets nearby players on fire for when it uses Heat Reallocation. | |
| Destructive Flight |  |
x 0.75 | The S.W.O.R.D. will glow purple and charge at the target, destroying any walls on impact. Like Destructive Flight, anyone standing near the thruster during the attack will be hit with moderate BURN damage and be set on fire. Anyone in the path of the S.W.O.R.D. will be hit with significant BRUTE damage. Stuns anyone caught in the attack path for 1 second and weakens them for 4 seconds. | |
| Universal | Configuration Swap |  |
x 1.25 | The S.W.O.R.D. will swap between Anchored and Unanchored configurations. |
| Stifling Vacuum |  |
The S.W.O.R.D. will glow blue and pull anyone within a small cone in front of it closer. Deals slight BURN damage, stuns for 2 seconds, and weakens affected players for 4 seconds. |
Rewards
When it is defeated, the S.W.O.R.D. will begin to smoke like any other pod that is about to explode. A safety update will apear shortly afterwards announcing the elimination of the Syndicate Weapon. The explosion of the S.W.O.R.D. will yield two to four Iridium Alloys, four to eight Syndicate Drone Circuitboards and an engine covered in mangled metal. The engine can be further deconstructed to pull out the Engine Core. In turn, this can be used to create one of three special items that require the Engine Core to be activated.
Deconstructing the Engine
You will need:
A screwdriver
A wrench
A crowbar
To deconstruct the engine:
- You might want to put on insulated gloves first. Removing the Engine Core will shock you.
- Weld the Mangled Engine to remove Iridium Alloy covering the Engine Core.
- Use a screwdriver to take the lid off the engine chamber.
- Use a crowbar to pry out the Engine Core. If there's nothing there, someone has taken it already!
After the engine is deconstructed, the Engine Core can be used to create the Syndicate Purge System, Syndicate Rewind System, or the Syndicate Destruction System. The blueprints for these are stashed in fabricators on the station already and can be accessed by hacking or emagging the fabricators. The Syndicate Purge System and the Syndicate Rewind System can be found in hacked or emagged ship component fabricators. The Syndicate Destruction System is a weapon that can be found in hacked or emagged mining fabricators.
The Syndicate Purge System
The Syndicate Purge System is a pod Main Weapon that releases a tile-destroying laser just like the one the S.W.O.R.D. shoots when it attacks with Linear Purge, but this one is only 4 tiles long. It costs 16 Sturdy Metal, 12 Conductive Material, and 8 Crystal to make the frame for it, and requires the S.W.O.R.D. Engine Core to become usable.
The Syndicate Rewind System
The Syndicate Rewind System is a pod Secondary System. Upon activation, it will take a snapshot of the pod's health. Five seconds afterwards, if the health value from the snapshot is higher than the pod's current health, it will rewind back to the higher health value. It covers the pod in shields like those seen on the S.W.O.R.D.'s Energy Absorption ability. It costs 8 Sturdy Metal, 12 Conductive Material, and 16 Crystal to make the frame for it, and requires the S.W.O.R.D. Engine Core to become usable.
The Syndicate Destruction System
The Syndicate Destruction System is a large, two-handed flaming sword. It has an attack area of three tiles by three tiles around the user when activated and after a short delay will deal moderate BURN damage to any players, including silicons, that are in the affected area. Silicons will be stunned for two seconds, while non-silicons hit by the attack are weakened for two seconds. It can also destroy walls that fall in the affected area of attack. The area of attack can be seen for a few seconds before initiated and is indicated in red. Executing a special attack with it using Disarm or Harm intent will light affected mobs on fire. It costs 16 Heavy Metal, 12 Conductive Material, and 8 High Density Crystalline Material to make the frame for it, and requires the S.W.O.R.D. Engine Core to become usable.
A screwdriver can be used to extract the S.W.O.R.D. Engine Core from any of the three systems.
Your S.W.O.R.D. Engine and You
But wait, there's more! With the Engine Core still inside of it, the S.W.O.R.D.'s Engine actually functions a bit like a SMES. The S.W.O.R.D. Engine comes charged with 30 MegaJoules of power, which is a fair bit. It can be wired into a power network, and the stored energy from the S.W.O.R.D. Engine can be used to send power to APCs and machines in the network, but will continue to randomly emit electrical shocks, so be cautious!
Nefarious6th pets the greater domestic space bee.