En-Mercs comic

You’re on the frontlines, supplies are zero to none and you need to set up a defensive position on flat terrain – what do you do?

The old answer would have been ‘nothing’. Having seen the need for making the terrain work for you no matter the location, the Khumeia class mech was developed. It houses a device which can de-construct matter and then reconstruct it into other shapes and densities, enabling it to turn trees into shelter, stones into walls etc. as the situation on the battlefield demands. Due to the seemingly magic process this mech can perform, it is often referred as the “Alchemy mech” also,

In theory the de-construction process could be used on living tissue also, with horrific consequences to the victim. Which is kind of what happens in En-Mercs when the Artificial Life ‘liberates’ the mechs.

I this scene we can see Destrato facing off against the Khumeia mech, and whilst Destrato isn’t too phased by normal physical damage he’s not keen to find out what would happen to his body if put through the device!

Click on the image to see the Khumeia gallery and this image in it’s full glory.

Originally developed to skitter across the battlefield and latch onto enemy vehicles and hardware to “hijack” them, the Jacker unit enables the tide of battle to swiftly change using a relatively low level of resources. Every vehicle gained is one lost to the enemy and the chaos stemming from hardware within their own ranks as it turns upon its forces is invaluable.

However, in the story their original design is twisted so the hardware they hijack is the human body. To keep the host alive and maintain homoeostasis for as long as possible (to prevent rigamortis from setting in and not waste the vast processor power needed to do it itself) the Jacker unit controls the host only from the neck down.

This would explain the look of terror and panic in most of the victim’s eyes, as they are unable to control their own body as they attack their comrades and can still feel their bodies pain. So if you’re having a bad day, think of these guys and it helps put things into perspective.