UrbStryc-A
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UrbStryc-A (military designation), also colloquially known as "Wei gas", is a lethal poison gas that has been used as a nerve gas agent by the Star League and Capellan Confederation. While deadly, it was also designed to be easy to clean up.[1][2]
Contents
Overview[edit]
On the agricultural planet of Wei, certain plants were discovered to produce chemical compounds that could be combined into deadly nerve agents. Since the Star League era, these plants were grown in the southern reaches of Providence, the world's sole (and very large) continent, and used to manufacture Wei gas in a secret base at Boganville, due north of the planetary capital Vandannis City, in the large Vandannis Valley in the center of the continent.[2]
One form of deployment was a thick green smoke, deployed through a fast and low-flying aerospace fighter. It was found that water neutralized the poison, and that the droplets of poison were rather heavy and did not carry far on the wind. However, in vehicles and 'Mechs, UrbStryc-A would initially be trapped in their air filters but minute amounts would then gradually evaporate into the air circulation loop; this can result in casualties after some time unless all air filters are changed after a gas attack.[1][2]
History[edit]
The first use of UrbStryc-A - it is ultimately unclear from the text if this was the first use ever or the first use in the Fourth Succession War - occurred on 3 July 3029 when Federated Suns forces attacked Wei and a defending Transgressor aerospace fighter deployed the nerve agent against the mercenary First Stygian Heavy Infantry Regiment, killing some 200 personnel.[1] Throughout the Wei campaign there were several more uses of the gas by the defenders, including improvised artillery shells in the final battle on 18 July where one shell prematurely detonated and neutralized the artillery position.[1]
Thuggee cultists made use of UrbStryc-A during the Capellan-St. Ives War, attacking major population centers on St. Ives (including the capital city, Milos) and Indicass.[2].
Over the course of the Jihad UrbStryc-A was used on dozens of worlds, resulting in deaths numbering in the tens of millions including half the planetary population of Wei.[2]
Notes[edit]
Tamas Rubinsky survived exposure to the UrbStryc-A nerve gas, but he acquired Degenerative Feedback Anomaly which left him unable to use a neurohelmet and thus incapable of piloting a BattleMech ever again.[3]. It is unclear if this condition was a side effect of the nerve agent or a combination of the agent and another preexisting condition on Tamas.