Seraphim

**Key Features** | »Electromagnetic generator battery»*Trumpet* Communications Scrambler array in mouth»Gold-titanium carbide chassis w/ rocketpack wings»Chitin-coated hand grips allow for attachment to aircraft»Recordings of various hymns and prayers

*"Sir, there's some angels on my six...I swear, I go to church every Sunday... But what do I do?"*

- Samael pilot, pursued by Seraphim
## Tactical Analysis

* **Angel of light**: A winged robotic humanoid, the Seraphim is a flight-capable infantry who protects Combine airspace from all who threaten it. Their electromagnetic generators and elaborate frame draw in fire from both ground and air based AA fire, while their naturally tough frame and regeneration abilities keeps them in the air and in the fight.

* **Sounding the horn**: Though slow and without conventional weaponry, the Seraphim is not entirely harmless. Its ability to attach itself to friendly aircraft lets it hitch a ride to the front and help the real fighters and bombers get through...and the ability to close in on an enemy aircraft, smash its way in, and take it over for the Technocracy means slower aircraft should beware if a Seraphim is nearby.

* **Vulnerable holiness**: Even with its protection, a Seraphim is only as helpful as long as there are nearby aircraft to protect or potentially target. Without the ability to affect combat on the ground or directly attack, it's useless against anything not on the aerial front.

* **A weapon of peace**: Built for support and protection, Seraphims are not gifted with weaponry nor are they expected to be used for combat purposes. They do not therefore enjoy any additional Heroic capabilities.

## Background

The right picture in the right situation can be worth a thousand words: a Jet Tengu in war colouration speeding away from an exploding Soviet Super Reactor during the early days of World War 3; ARVN general Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executing a suspected Vietcong terrorist in broad daylight in Saigon; Continental Minutemen Lucas, Wilson, and Doris Mabel saluting the Washington Monument from across the Pontomac River; a solitary Sepoy firing at a Chinese Mantis while Peacekeeper Broderick Jenkins drags another injured peacekeeper off-camera; Conscript Nikita Aminev tearfully cradling a fatally injured war bear on the steps of a building bombed by the Global Liberation Army - all have astounded, moved, or horrified audiences across newspapers and on television all over the world. And recently, there has come another such picture, sparking controversy and talk across the breakfast tables and dens of the Western Hemisphere: "Guardian Angel." Shot in front of a building hit by a aerial suicide bomber, the scene is one of panic, with fire seen licking from part of the building and rubble and debris scattered everywhere. Bloodied people are seen fleeing the building, cradling their injuries or being escorted out by rescue workers. And in the foreground, a small child can be seen huddled in the middle of the street with an angelic statue hunched over and behind it, shielding the child from harm.

While the violence itself was received with relative neutrality, the child's guardian sparked intense debate. Was it evidence of religious intervention, a near-literal angel witnessed? An artificial prop in a posed shot for public relations purposes? A person in a costume? The answer, it would turn out, was none of the above. The shot had merely captured one of the first **Seraphim-class Android Automatons**, in the process of carrying out its designated orders.

Whereas most conventional Android Automatons guard the ground and halls from those would threaten Utopia, the distinctly angelic Seraphim are responsible for watching the skies. Hunched over in skyscraper alcoves or standing proudly from atop building outcroppings, they passively track and watch the nearby airspace, springing into action with concealable rocketpacks when hostiles are detected or coming down to ground level when ordered to by the building's security personnel. Most commonly installed in civilian areas, the Seraphim are starting to make an appearance in the Mobile Guard as well: as they have more delicate components and require greater maintenance than other Automaton to remain functional, such constructs are almost never stationed in Humanitarian Guard bases directly but instead flown in via Kingfisher, dropping into position when ordered to begin their job of keeping the skies - and Combine aircraft - safe from the opposition.

The secret of the Seraphim's usefulness lies in the electromagnetic generator battery equipped with every Automaton of its class: appearing often as spherical globes or long hand-held tools, the batteries help generate an EM field around the Seraphim that both redirects incoming munitions towards the Seraphim and helps mitigate the impact by reducing the kinetic energy that passes through. With these instruments, the Seraphim may freely launch itself towards incoming fire, acting as a shield and preventing damage from going to civilian targets or friendly forces nearby. Rather than equipped with offensive weaponry, they are also gifted with mechanical graspers coated with chitin crafted from eugenically modified sea crustaceans. Able to punch straight through steel and aluminium, such hands allow the Seraphim to easily grasp onto aircraft, where it may either seek a stable spot to perch and await future instructions or attempt to deliberately unbalance the craft, knocking it off its intended course and preventing the pilot from controlling their craft. In extreme cases, Seraphim may be authorized to take over the craft directly, tearing into the plane and scrambling the radar systems via internal array before wresting manual control away from the pilot.

Much like other Android Automatons, the outer shell of Seraphim are constructed by artists and sculptors, meaning no two Seraphim look exactly alike. Some appear as benevolent feminine figures, wrapped in golden robes with eerily beautiful faces and wings plated in silver, while others are more akin to skeletal angels of death with bone extrusions, laughing skulls studded with emeralds, and exposed copper bodywork. It is a common tendency for artists to also give voice to their artwork, putting in pre-recorded tapes of prayerbooks and hymnals to add an aural component to the Seraphim's beauty. No matter their appearance, however, the end result is the same: a decorated robotic creature that is not only capable but willing to sacrifice itself to protect the beings who created it.