SpecOps: Episode I Hero Equipment

Episode I Heroes Equipment

Jim Raynor

The Hyperion:
Originally stolen from Arcturus Mengsk after the "idealistic rebel crusader" left Sarah Kerrigan to the Zerg on Tarsonis, Jim Raynor has used the Hyperion as the flagship for his ragtag fleet of Terran and Protoss followers ever since. The ship has survived countless battles with the Zerg and the United Earth Directorate, and Raynor has grown quite fond of it, outfitting it with very strong weaponry and armor. It was on the Hyperion that he helped defend Aiur from the Zerg, took part in the destruction of the Overmind, rescued Mengsk from death at the UED's hand, explored the unknown regions of space, and watched Tassadar, Sarah Kerrigan, and Fenix meet their ends at the hand of the Zerg.
When SpecOps was formed, it became very apparent that many missions involved transporting the entire team in a very safe (and therefore very durable) ship, and that some missions required the presence of very heavy firepower. The battlecruiser was the natural choice for such tasks, and Raynor insisted upon using the older Hyperion rather than some of the newer ships that Mengsk suggested. After several heated debates, Mengsk finally consented and began the process of making the ship into a virtual flying fortress. The old armored hull was almost completely covered with thick metzinium armor plating, and the already-powerful weapons systems were upgraded with an experimental reactor that was able to produce very powerful laser blasts. The Protoss lent a modified carrier shield generator to the project and installed it themselves, already being somewhat familiar with the inner workings of the Hyperion that had arrived at their homeworld years ago to assist them.
The end results are impressive, to say the least. In tests conducted by the Dominion Armada, the "reborn" ship has stood up to the intense heat from near-orbits around suns, punched through the toughest of shields and armor, and defeated entire fleets by itself.
In order to meet the ship's other main objective--transportation of the SpecOps team in and out of hostile territory--much of the Hyperion's living spaces have been removed and replaced with large cargo areas for long-term missions, extra hull bracing for emergency crash landings, and a rapid deployment system very similar to that found aboard dropships.
The old ship has been given a massive facelift, and Jim Raynor and his team smile on it with more pride than ever, knowing it will continue to get them where they need to go and then home safely again.

Raynor's Vulture Hovercycle:
Another vehicle that held a special place in Raynor's heart was his vulture hovercycle, a remnant of his old marshalling days. Like the Hyperion, Raynor chose to continue using his old vulture after joining SpecOps, despite the many disagreements Mengsk had with the idea.
Unforunately for Raynor, his vulture was lost in a freak accident during basic training when he lost control and skidded into a river. Raynor managed to make his way back to shore, but his hovercycle was not so lucky...it was found downstream, bashed to scrap metal after a short ride down the rock-filled raging current.
But Raynor still insisted upon being issued a vulture for use in certain missions, and he was given a specialized version of one of the newer, more battle-ready vultures. Raynor's new hovercycle fires powerful flechette grenades, a costly variant of the more-typical frag grenades packed with nearly twice the explosives. Metzinium armor covers the sensitive drive engines and protects Raynor's front and back, but leaves him exposed on the sides. Raynor compensates for this by typically wearing a thinner version of his marine suit while piloting his new vulture into the battlefield.
Though he has only "owned" it for a few short months, and still wishes his old hovercycle hadn't been destroyed, Raynor likes his new vulture, and recognizes how effective it can be in combat zones. No matter what the mission may call for, Raynor makes sure to take his vulture along in the cargo hold of the Hyperion just in case he needs it, which he often does.

DMC-X900 Powered Combat Suit:
Most SpecOps missions call for Jim Raynor to suit up as a marine, toting his XC-34 rifle and donning this experimental armored uniform. An advanced prototype based on the basic Dominion Marine Corps (DMC) 500 marine all-environment armor, the DMC-X900 suit is made almost entirely out of a condenced metzinium alloy. The light metal is perfect for absorbing heavy enemy fire and yet not limiting Raynor's movements any more than the typical combat suit. The uniform is extremely expensive, however, and plans to mass-produce it were scrapped almost as soon as they were proposed. Raynor is one of a select few to don the incredibly sturdy suit, and has on several occasions been very grateful for its stopping power in the heat of battle.

XC-34 Gauss Rifle:
Made as an experimental model by Private Ordnance and Weaponry Inc., the XC-34 utilizes rounds of ammuninition made with metzinium, creating a bullet that can penetrate much deeper than the typical C-24 Gauss round. The C-24, however, was found to overheat when loaded with the new ammunination, so POW Inc. made the specialized XC-34 to fire the new ordnance. Jim Raynor was issued one of the first XC-34s produced, and has proven its effectiveness in training and will hopefully continue to prove it in upcoming battles.

*** See also: XC-34 Gauss Rifle in the weapons and tech section ***

Julie Kerrigan

Specialized HES (Hostile Environment Suit):
One of the biggest problems encountered when equipping the SpecOps team was how to strengthen Kerrigan's HES suit without eliminating the extreme flexability that the HES offers. The solution called for small metzinium discs to be interwoven on top of an already-existing suit, essentially returning to the concept of ancient chain mail. This greatly boosts her suit's toughness without effecting her agility, though she is still left more vulnerable than the other team members.

C-20 Pulse Rifle:
Made as an intended replacement for the slightly less effective C-15 Canister Rifle, the C-20 fires compressed masses of energy rather than projectiles. The usefulness of such a weapon is obvious: not only does this do more damage than canisters, but as long as the rifle is charged, it can fire indefinately, as it uses no true ammunition. Julie Kerrigan was issued one of these rifles to test when the C-20 was still in the experimental stage, and now, with C-20 production slowed by repeated raids by the Crimson Phoenix, she carries one of the very few tested C-20s into battle.
Kerrigan's rifle has been specially modified to be capable of firing not only lockdown canisters, but optic flares as well, greatly enhancing her ability to remain undetected by potential enemies.

*** See also: C-20 "Pulse" Rifle in the weapons and tech section ***

Jay Brockman

DMC-X960 Heavy Combat Suit:
Much like Raynor's X900 combat suit, the DMC-X960 is made almost entirely of a condenced metzinium alloy. It is even tougher than the X900, mainly due to the fact that it must be physically thicker to stand up to the punishing heat of the Mark XII flamethrowers. Like the other metzinium-based suits, the X960 is simply too expensive to mass-produce, and Brockman is one of very few people that wears the specialized armor.

Perdition Mark XII Flamethrowers:
Though effective in the battlefield, the typical Mark XI flamethrowers produced for the Dominion by the Perdition Personal Weaponry corperation were not enough for the SpecOps team's assault and demolitions specialist. Perdition was given two months to make flamethrowers that were at least three times more powerful than the Mark XIs, and yet still able to be used by a typical firebat.
Perdition was forced to try something that they had never tried before for safety's sake. They put a small reactor inside each of the plasma tanks, thereby superheating the plasma and producing a much more powerful blast from the flamethrowers. Luckily, the new flamethrowers were not prone to overheating the tanks or threatening the user as the Perdition techs had feared. They cristened the new flamethrowers as Mark XII and sent it to the SpecOps team two weeks early.
However, tests have proven that the Mark XIIs CAN overheat a firebat using them for extended periods, and they were therefore deemed too unsafe for use by the Dominion firebats. The Mark XII never made it past five experimental models, one of which is still used by Jay Brockman, who insisted on using the remarkably effective flamethrowers, despite the risk. He, like his friend Jim Raynor, explained his decision by saying that he is "a man of action".