LANDMATES

Warning: This page contains tons of images and complex tabels. It may load slow on some systems.

Shirow's versions of ACPA are called landmates. Landmates are a common sight in his stories and are used for everything from recreation to warfare. Like his cyborgs, Shirow has an infinite amount of landmate designs, I will only be converting those I think are necessary or extra interesting. The insides of a landmate are covered with receptors which copy body movements, (the datasuit worn inside the LM's is what send these messages to the receptors) so if the wearers body moves the suit moves exactly as the person inside does. Landmates are specially designed to have the full range of maneuverability that a human has, in some ways even surpass it. The major differences between the ACPA of Cyberpunk and Shirow's landmates, are the datasuits worn underneath, and the extra smaller set of arms are common in most Shirow powered armor. The smaller arms house the operator's arms, and control the

movements of the larger "slave" arms. this innovation allows for greater strength output and more options. As usual these conversions have not been a cakewalk, Shirow will go into great detail about some things but leave others virtually unexplained, so a lot of this is simply my best guess. If someone out there has more information than has been released in America your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

ed. note: You may notice that the suits here all have chassis in the heavy range. This is due to the fact that Shirow's suits tend to be a little bit bigger than most of the APCA in Cyberpunk 2020 (even his light suits are huge!). All values are based upon size, technical data and performance in the manga and anime.

GUGES-D
The Guges-D is the landmate used by Deunan, and the rest of E-SWAT in Appleseed. Designed for E-SWAT as a special light raider unit, it is faster and more maneuverable than most landmates, even when fully armed. Not being a front-line heavy assault suit, the Guges relies on teamwork and coordination to get the job done. While they basically look the same, most Guges are customized to the wearers needs and personality. The Guges is usually painted matte black, but depending on the operation, they are also available in woodland camo and even grey/red paint schemes. There are no part numbers on a Guges-D either, every piece is hand made. None of its optical sensors radiate visibly, so in the field the machine is virtually soulless - all you can hear is a whisper from the exhaust vents. The Guges was not designed for fancy slugfests or running around with high-caliber guns blazing; the design goal was straight forward: take out the obstacle as safely, surely, and quickly as possible. It was not built for solo heroics. Designed with the knowledge that anti-terrorist operations are timed in seconds and minutes, it carries only enough ammo to squeeze by - two to four magazines at the most. The fingertips are left virtually unarmored for attaching sensor devices. The Guges has a strong grip so the sensors need a lot of replacing. The fingers are made of aluminum alloy and the knuckles are made from titanium. The operater can't open his/her hand completely, but the trade off in superior external armor is well worth it. Guges wear "sneakers" for grip enhancement end noise reduction. For the price you pay, you really don't wanna know how often these need to be replaced.(Appleseed)

* Sensory Extensions: 1and 2: anti-dazzle, full audio range, low light, image anhancement, targeting scope, tele-optics, sniffer.

USMC HEAVY BATTLE ARMOR Not the average Shirow design I added it here simply cause it looks so cool. Oddly the slave arms for this mecha are thin and not very armored. They stay in place until activated then act normally. The control arms have a huge machine gun attached toeach. I had nothing but the pic to go off of so please bear with me. (from the cover of Machine Head 4)

* NORINCO 10mm MG * 0 * 8D6 * 200 * 25 * VR * 8760EB

HERACLES All I had to go on from this one was the picture. It's a Guges (I think) most likely military used for urban assault. (I hypothesized this due to the lack of camo) The hands on the smaller arms are really gloves, and yes you can hold another gun in them. (Intron Depot)

* .50 Caliber Assault Vulcan * HVY * 0 * 6D10 * 1000 * 60 * VR * 13,000 EB 

SCORPIO Yet another LM that I know absolutely nothing about. I scanned it from Intron Depot, and the only reason its included here is that I think it looks cool. Out of all his LM's I would truly hate to wear this one into combat. There are no control arms and the operator's arms are exposed. The front hatch was omitted by Shirow to focus on the operater. The legs don't seem to have much going for them either because of the gun. All in all, this functions more like a powerloader (Aliens) than an LM. The suit rears back on its legs to fire that great big gun. I'm not sure, but I imagine the gun folds up when not in use. (From Intron Depot)

* 30mm Autocannon * 0 * 9D10 * 500 * 20 * SR

DEADLY HUNTER This is really nothing more than an ACPA weapons platform. It can be loaded down with virtually any armament available. Its sole purpose is to destroy land mates and it does its job well, although it is almost useless in close quarters combat. The Deadly Hunter usually waits in ambush for an unsuspecting target then uses its superior firepower to obliterate its enemies. There is no standard armed version, the Deadly Hunter is mission specific and is equipped depending on what is needed for each operation. (from Dominion - in the index)

FUCHIKOMAS Fuchikomas are completely different from landmates, they have their own AI and can act as backup or support on their own recognizance. They can also act as an assault vehicle, and even stealth missions benefit from the Fuchikoma. The AI of the Fuchikoma is actually a learning computer. During a the course of the day, an individual Fuchikoma will have its own individual experiences, but at the end of the day all Fuchikoma's under the same ownership will assimilate their data into a mainframe, and then extract the information downloaded by their fellow Fuchikoma. They are listed here because when in vehicle mode the driver is strapped in like in a land mate (hence owners referring to them as their suits). This marvelous machine is even able to run along walls and climb trees! It really is one hell of creation. (from Ghost In The Shell)

Special Equipment:
Amphibious off road capability, AI (INT 9), cybernetic interface, military com gear, tight beam commo, full audio and visual spectrum abilities, satellite uplink, spot light, painting laser loud speaker, command control computer, therm-optic camouflage, and VR interface.

Weapons:
12.7mm gatling gun with 1000 rounds, smoke cannisters.

[ h o m e ] | | [ w e a p o n s ] | | [ g e a r ] | | [ l a n d m a t e s ] | | [ v e h i c l e s ]

tcrutch@dogbert.ipa.net